The amaryllis is one plant with built-in flowers that are anxious to mushroom forth and flaunt their dazzling beauty even despite the difficult conditions of most apartments, homes, or offices during the winter.
Exotic trumpet-shaped blossoms in vibrant reds, soft pinks, or pure whites scoff at the grayest winter days. This splendid spectacle is followed by a growth of rich green, strap-like leaves forming a plant, which is a lush bit of living decoration for any room.
A fascinating cycle of bloom and growth unfolds with impatient vigor, repeating itself yearly and offering so much satisfaction in return for easy and unpampered care.
Practically all dealers and importers of bulbs will guarantee the amaryllis they handle to bloom the first year.
As with most bulbs, the budding embryo developed during the previous season of ideal culture.
Culture of Amaryllis
Give them even a minimum of their modest requirements, and they will eagerly produce one or more stems of four blossoms, each measuring up to 8” or 9” inches across.
Growing mediums range from water in hyacinth glasses to ordinary garden soil in clay pots. The fact that any one of several different methods will give results is an admirable recommendation for the bulbs.
However, even the ideal arrangements recommended by the amaryllis hybridizers and growers are simple and will allow the bulbs to perform at their best.
Being a dweller in a steam-heated apartment, I do not have the controlled growing conditions found in the greenhouse.
Still, I have grown lusty, vigorous amaryllis, many of which have repeated the cycle of bloom and growth for many years.
I prefer using a soil mixture and providing a period of outdoor growth after blooming, but even planting mediums containing no soil give excellent results so that it is possible for anyone to grow amaryllis anywhere.
How to Select Bulbs
The variety is the chief factor determining the cost. Nondescript mixtures of amaryllis bulbs (generally not hybrids) run under $1.00.
Another factor is the general color classification of hybrid seedlings, such as reds, whites, etc.
Bulbs will cost between $1.00 and $3.50, depending on the strain (family line of certain growers) to which they belong.
The blue-blooded Dutch hybrids, individually named and described, range from under $5.00 to $15.00.
Since these hybrids are outstanding in performance, size, and color, lasting for many years under good care, they are generally a rewarding investment.
Bulb size is often a cost factor, especially for less expensive groups. However, heredity more often affects the bloom’s quantity and size than the bulb’s size.
Large bulbs, which may be older, often make a more luxuriant leaf growth but may have smaller and fewer flower stalks than a considerably smaller bulb.
The shape seems to run according to strain, and while you can’t tell too much from the appearance of the bulb, you probably won’t find the squat, thick bulb producing the same flowers as the long-necked, slimmer ones – not that the one is more desirable than the other.
Colors of the Blossom
A legend from Greece suggests that the amaryllis was originally a rich red flower named for a lass who persisted in her determination to win the heart of the popular shepherd-horticulturist. Alteo, and to this day, the blood-red color, seems to be the most popular amaryllis color.
Varying hues of red, some tending toward orange and others toward the blue-reds, make up the longest lists in the catalogs.
The hybridists seem to prefer solid colors that glisten with an inherent radiance, but some of those striped with white are considerably interesting to many growers. You find many of these striped types in the “mixed” groups.
Successful Amaryllis Culture
Experts have advised three “general musts” for a successful amaryllis culture:
- A container that is barely larger than the bulb.
- Clay garden soils.
- Shallow planting.
The second rule is still highly recommended, but I have found the bulb very much at home in some newer, soilless growing materials.
However, if superior results are desired for many productive future seasons, we find a rich, porous soil mixture most beneficial.
Perhaps the cleanest and simplest arrangement is a decorative ceramic container filled with a water-retaining material such as sphagnum moss, vermiculite, plastic foam, etc. Bulb fiber is highly desirable and often conveniently packaged.
Since most of these materials are very lightweight and the developed plant is quite tall and needs balance, a heavy container should be chosen; some sort of support may subsequently be required.
The disadvantages of this method are the probability of rot caused by overwatering a drain-less container and the necessity of providing a highly nutritious summer in an outdoor garden if future seasons of bloom are desired.
If you can supply your amaryllis with a soil mixture that is rich, light, and porous, you will be rewarded with excellent results.
I prefer one made of one-half good compost (well-rotted cow manure may be substituted) and one-half of equal parts loam, sharp sand, and peat moss.
A 1/2 cup of fine bone meal is added to each 8-inch potful, and the mixture is seasoned with a tablespoonful of tobacco dust.
Potting
I prefer the clay azalea-type pot, which is shorter than the conventional type. This should be about 3″ inches larger across the top than the measured width of the bulb. Accordingly, a 3-inch bulb would require a 6-inch pot.
This relationship also holds good for the soilless culture method. I use the conventional height pot measuring 2″ inches larger than the bulb for extra-large bulbs with a heavily developed root system.
If your confidence is based upon the minimum size pot (1″ inch larger pot than a bulb), it is advisable to use a glazed container so the soil won’t dry out too readily. All containers should have a drainage hole and be provided with a saucer.
In potting, first place an inch of gravel, bits of broken pot, or any similar drainage material in the bottom of the container.
Then, choosing an imaginary line that would divide the thick, bulbous portion of the bulb (not considering the neck) in half, carefully hold the bulb in the container so that this line is about an inch below the rim.
All live roots should be spread out evenly, being careful not to break any of them. If you still have a spare hand available, fill in the planting mixture, tapping the container sharply to settle it.
When finished, the bulb should appear to squat duck-fashion on the soil with its lower half submerged and an inch space atop for watering.
Set the pot in a pan of water, tip to the container’s rim, and let it soak for an hour or so. Drain the pot and fill in to replace the settled soil.
The potted bulb may then be placed in an out-of-the-way corner where there is some light and a temperature of 65° to 70° degrees Fahrenheit can be maintained.
Lower temperatures would lengthen the period of dormancy, and higher ones would cause an undesirable, hasty growth.
Check the surface soil now and then, and if it looks and feels dry, water until the entire pot is moist again. Avoid allowing the water to stand in the saucer.
Amaryllis Flowering
Depending upon how early or late in the season your bulb is planted, it will be at least two and possibly as long as six weeks before your patience is rewarded with the first signs of life – a smooth, ivory-like tip on one side of the scaly neck of the bulb.
This awakening period in the life cycle is generally accompanied by root activity and subsequent demand for more moisture and light.
Move the pot to a light window, and after the stem portion appears and growth becomes more rapid, encourage strong growth by placing the pot in your brightest window.
Pre-Blooming Period
During the pre-blooming period, you may be anxious to reward the amazing efforts of the bulb in performing this miracle of where-does-it-come-from-activity by overwatering or, still worse, by spiking the water with a super potent fertilizer powder you’ve beard so much about. Save it for later.
When the time stem has reached a certain, seemingly predetermined height, the split edge of the spear-like tip will begin to separate, indicating that the swelling buds within are about ready to emerge. These will push their way through the sturdy, fat pod and soon dwarf it as the pod peels back and dies.
As number one bud takes over and quickly develops ahead of its two or three pod-mates, you will have time to speculate on its size and color.
But the climax of the spectacle is reserved for the moment when the six petals flare open and flaunt the full beauty of the blossom.
Depending upon the bulb’s vitality and the strength of its root growth, your blossoms may last several days to a week.
Cooler temperatures will also prolong their longevity. They may be open one at a time or in such rapid succession as to be omitted all at once.
Cut off each of the blossoms as it fades, and when the last one wanes, carefully cut the entire stem off close to the neck of the bulb.
If the seed pods are left to develop after blooming, they will merely sap the last bit of energy from the bulb.
Care After Blooming
Most frequently, there will be some evidence of leaf growth emerging from the center of the bulb neck before the flowers fade, or there may be an extra dividend or two of new scopes appearing.
However, it is just as possible to have a barren-looking, shrunken bulb that doesn’t quite fit its outer coat anymore.
This is the time to be generous with your care and extra feeding. This attention can be directly measured by time and the vigor of the smooth, long leaves growing from the bulb as it builds itself and forms the next generation of blossoms.
Soilless-grown bulbs must be set outdoors for active vegetative growth and food storage when the weather warms.
Until such transplanting can be done, they should be grown in cool temperatures to retard leaf growth.
Carefully watch the water supply and start weekly feedings of soluble fertilizers or liquid cow manure.
Expose the plant to all the early spring sun available, but try to hold the room temperature down to 70° degrees Fahrenheit.
44659 by Arthur Heitzman