Amaryllis

Amaryllis Bulb in a Terra Cotta Pot

The Amaryllis flower is another one I associate with the holidays. Last year I picked up a couple of them at the grocery store where the bulbs were encased in wax. I’d first seen this at my friend Laurie’s house the year before and the idea of a bulb being coated in wax and able to grow let alone bloom intrigued me, so I gave it ago last year. Surprisingly they did grow and for a long time! After they finished blooming, I took the bulbs out of the wax and tried to grow them in the same manner as the Paperwhites but discovered once they bloom, they won’t do it again and all you get is greenery. That was an interesting experiment and I learned something new!

This year I’m giving the Amaryllis another go, but this time I’ve planted the bulb in a pot. I learned this approach from watching another episode of Gardener’s World with Monty Don. I won’t know the results of this experiment for a while, but if you are interested in taking a stab at it here are a few pointers:

Put two inches of potting soil in a pot that is at least six inches in diameter. I added some Perlite and compost to my soil, so it had good drainage and nutrients.

Set the Amaryllis bulb in the pot and spread out the roots.

Gently pack more potting soil between the roots and around the bulb, covering 2/3 of it and leaving 1/3 of the bulb above the soil line.

Water once with lukewarm water when you first pot the Amaryllis bulb, then sparingly until you see the tip of the bud appear.

Then water once a week being careful not to over water (isn’t that always the challenge!)

From my research on the Amaryllis flower, I’ve learned that its height is between 20 – 24 inches and it blooms six to ten weeks after planting.  If this is correct and all goes well, I should be seeing a beautiful touch of color to my mud room (which is my secondary greenhouse) starting around the first of the year.  This would not be a bad way to bring in 2022 and a great way to start a new gardening season!