Friday, May 11, 2007

Remember the Amaryllis!


Since Thanksgiving, we have had an Amaryllis (Hippeastrum sp.) in bloom every single day. I don't time it like that on purpose, it just happens like this. Of course, it helps that I have many, many Amaryllis bulbs, but still. If I would try and plan for them to do this, it wouldn't happen, you know. It's one of the Murphy's Laws of Gardening.

But the last of the blooms are in their prime this week. Even that is good timing, because this week, I started taking all of the rest of the bulbs outside and planted them in the ground for the summer. There, they'll gather strength between now and September for next winter's indoor blooms.

So, I look back fondly on Amaryllis days, and another enjoyable season of blooms. They really do help me make it through the long winter.
La Paz

Picotee (also above)


Dancing Queen


Royal Velvet


Rilona


Piquant


Red Peacock


Blossom Peacock


Misty


San Remo


Papilio


There were others, like Lemon Lime, Emerald and Red Lion. There was Apple Blossom, too, except that it only produced foliage for the second year in a row. I've yet to see that bulb bloom. And then there was Pink Floyd that clearly wasn't Pink Floyd, but looked more like Misty which had bloomed earlier.

While it's irritating to have one bloom red when you were expecting white ('Christmas Gift'), the truth is, you just can't not like an Amaryllis no matter what color it turns out to be.

So now, all but Red Peacock are enjoying their days in the sun, beefing up for November, when the show begins all over again. Actually, the bulbs that my friend Kat gave me when I visited her in Florida in March, are putting out new foliage and not knowing whether they had bloomed yet when I pulled them up, they may surprise us with blooms in a month or two.

9 comments:

Carol Michel said...

That's incredible that you've had amaryllis blooms since Thanksgiving! Where would you put all those plants?

David (Snappy) said...

Kylee, My Nan's Niece gave me an Amaryllis bulb when I went to see her in Malton,North Yorkshire last year.It grew in a pot and put out the most amazing Flowers.It was called Ferrari, and the blooms were red.I love your flowers.How many varities are you growing?
You can plant them outside?Do slugs and snails eat any whilst they are summering?Do you bring them indoors in October?
My wife has the plant now in Castleford and she has not made it reflower this year :(
I have the green fingers.

Kylee Baumle said...

Hi snappy!

They seem to do just fine while outside for the summer, but I don't have a slug or snail problem like some people have around here. My hostas have nary a hole in them! My mom, on the other hand, has lots of them, and we live just 12 miles from each other.

Yes, they come inside at the first prediction of frost. I cut the foliage then, and put them in a box in the basement where it's cool and dark. Around mid-November or so, I check them to see if there's any sign of growth, and if so, in the pot they go.

It has worked well for me so far!

Kylee Baumle said...

Hi Carol,

They aren't all in bloom at the same time, they each take their turn, it seems. I usually have two, maybe three that are in the process of blooming at once, and while the others are either putting foliage out or shooting out flower stalks, I keep them under the lights in the basement. When they're ready to actually bloom, they get to come upstairs.

Jean said...

Your Amaryllis are beautiful! I never paid much attention to them and just thought they were a Christmas flower. Thanks for telling me about them! I,ve been wanting a peony tree. Your is gorgeous!

kate said...

You are brilliant! There is something about Amaryllis in bloom that brighten up even the most dreary and snowbound winter's day. I love 'La Paz' and 'San Remo' ... well, I like them all.

Bob said...

?? Were those Amaryllis bulbs that I mailed to you??

BTW...Nathan has survived the Goats!

Kylee Baumle said...

No, Bob, they weren't amaryllis, but something similar - Crinums. They are in the garden and growing!

Glad to hear Nathan lives. Pauly was not so lucky. Though it's hardy to our zone, it didn't survive our unusually extreme winter. Extreme, because we went from summer to winter to summer to winter to spring to winter yet again. It was just too much. :-(

Anonymous said...

Your photographs are just amazing. Breathtakingly beautiful flowers.
Sara from farmingfriends in the UK

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