Early present
I bought myself a “wrapped” present yesterday: a potted amaryllis of unknown color. I’ve often considered buying an amaryllis but resisted the impulse. At this time of year, I’m busy Christmas shopping, and an amaryllis bulb has always seemed an extravagance I just didn’t really need. But when I spotted this one in a simple clay pot, with bright-green rye grass surrounding the vertical stalk, which holds the closed promise of a beautiful flower, I couldn’t resist. I asked Colleen, the owner of Barton Springs Nursery, what color it would be. “Who knows?” she said cheerfully. What fun, I thought, and made my impulse buy.
Colleen told me that I can plant the bulb outdoors after it flowers, and it will bloom in the spring. That’s a surprise too. I had no idea amaryllis would grow outdoors in Austin. Has anyone else in Austin (or elsewhere in the South) grown amaryllis in the garden? If so, what was your experience?
Amaryllis, I’ve read, is native to South and Central America and the Caribbean, and its name, from the Greek, is a common name for a shepherdess or country girl in classical poetry.
Pam, my motley collection of 7 Amaryllis [actually it’s Hippeastrum, isn’t it?] used to come in and out every winter, until I got tired of it and planted them in the ground in May 2005. I’d seen plenty of them in other people’s yards and thought it could be fun. More than half made it, a few croaked. I’ll email you a photo of a couple of them in bloom in April 2006. Mine would have done better with some wind protection and lighter, faster-draining soil, I think.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Well, those are pretty good odds, I think. Thanks for the tips on where to plant. —Pam
Scott Ogden says, yes, that even amaryllis bred primarily for pot culture can be grown outdoors in the lower South “if provided good drainage and protective mulches”. I have a potted amaryllis that never bloomed. This year I divided it into two pots of non-blooming amaryllis. I also have the hardy amaryllis known as St. Joseph’s lily (Hippeastrum x johnsonii) which survives with no effort on my part in the garden. They lost their leaves in a very hard freeze in 2004 but didn’t suffer any longterm ill-effect. I’m very tempted to dump my pot-grown amaryllis out in the garden to join them. It will be fun to compare notes on the great amaryllis experiment with you and Annie.
That does sound like a fun experiment. I’m in. —Pam
My mom has been planting her yearly amaryllis in the ground after Christmas for more than 10 years. They seem to do best where they get sun part of the day and at least light shade for the hottest part. They bloom in the spring again, and sometimes do a repeat in the fall. They will propagate and can be divided. She’s lost some of them due to freak freezes (she lives 30 miles inland from the gulf), but most come up year after year.
Here in Houston, I’ve been seeing more and more amaryllis planted as a spring flower. They bloom with great splendor for about 3 to 4 weeks, and then concentrate on storing enough food in the bulb for the next bloom.
They’re pretty easy to keep in a pot, just use one slightly larger than the ones they give you to grow in just for Christmas.
Have fun!
Thanks for the info, Nancy. And thanks for visiting and commenting! —Pam
The grass in the pot is a very nice touch. I’ll have to remember that.
I agree with Jenn, the rye is an inspired touch.
Yes, I think the rye is what sold me on the whole thing. It just looked so fresh and green. —Pam
I have about 35 amaryllis of varying ages all of which were Xmas gifts for years past. This year, only about he have buds. The rest just have leaves. I put them out in the yard every spring and summer(Metropolitan Washington DC area), repot them with slow release fertizizer soil rign them in in Septemebr, et them die down and then bring them out to light and water in early January. Should I chuck the non-bloomers or does anyone have an ideas on how to get these bulbs to bloom sucessfullty next year.
Diplo65
I really don’t know. I’m just learning about amaryllis myself. Thanks for visiting though. —Pam