After growing, hybridizing, and loving amaryllis for many years, I say that they are the queen of house plants.
The brilliant colors of some varieties excite me, the pastels are quite simply beautiful, the striped and bordered blossoms hold geometric fascination, and the pure white blossoms seem to be a little bit of Heaven.
This bulb comes to us from South Africa. The dainty floral species of the wild give little hint of the enormous blossoms that may be expected from Dutch hybrids.
Most American hybrids retain more of the “lily” shape of the species blossoms, but they may also be very large in diametrical measurement.
Amaryllis are not all blooming—a well-grown plant has foliage that gives needed height to the indoor garden. In the greenhouse, they give a stately quality to benches that might otherwise be boring.
Amaryllis: For Indoor Use
Famous for indoor use, they are equally desirable for the outdoor garden, used in single or group plantings.
They like the shaded, protected spot where hard rains and wind will not beat the big, strappy leaves. They are planted and harvested just as you would dahlias or gladiolus.
Gardeners in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and southern Missouri may find that they will winter quite well outdoors if they are given a deep mulch. One gardener in Wichita, Kansas, successfully grows them outdoors through the winter.
Amaryllis is like rich potting soil, made loose and aerated with humus. Here is an excellent mixture: equal parts of good humusy garden loam, leaf mold, sand, and well-rotted manure.
An amaryllis bulb the size of your fist should produce at least one bud stem, which will develop into three or four magnificent blossoms. Cover two-thirds of the bulb with soil when potting, and leave the rest uncovered.
After potting, water the bulb to settle the soil, and then place the potted bulb in a warm window where it will receive good light, not necessarily direct sunlight.
In due time, the bulb will bulge at the top, and a new set of leaves will appear, or a big fat bud will appear, or they’ll both start-up simultaneously.
Some sunshine is necessary at this stage, and it helps to give the pot a half turn every two or three days so it gets an even amount of sunlight on all sides. A good growing temperature is 60 to 70 degrees.
After blooming, the bulb will be soft and will have receded from the soil. This is natural, so do not act in haste and destroy your bulb.
Good care in feeding, watering, and sunlight will restore the bulb to its natural size and firmness. At this stage, the buds for next season’s blossoms will be formed, as in tulips.
Amaryllis: Easily Grown From Seeds
I have been hybridizing and growing them from seeds for many years. Complete records are kept of each cross, including the name of both parents and the date the cross was made. Later, a notation is made when the seeds are ripe and planted.
Blossom time from seeds may come any time after 18 months. One stubborn seedling of mine did not bloom until it was five years old.
I started with the hardy red amaryllis, A. Belladonna Linn., often called ‘Equestre,’ and A. striata fulgida. These are strong growers with outstanding blooming characteristics.
With these species, I have used pollen from other species and hybrid amaryllis, and one most successful cross has resulted by using the pollen from a zephyranthes (also of the amaryllis family).
Pollination is Simple
Take the yellow powdery pollen from the anthers of one blossom and dust it onto the plant’s pistil you selected as the seed parent.
If you want more plants of a certain variety, use self-pollen. For species, this propagation method should give seedlings identical to the parent. Hybrids, when self-pollinated, will not give seedlings of the same variety.
If your cross has been effective, the blossom will soon wither, and the seed pod will begin to grow.
Amaryllis seed pods are about an inch across, and they mature rapidly. In about five or six weeks, the pod will begin to yellow, and it will soon split open to reveal the black, papery-like penny-size seeds.
If possible, these should be planted immediately, for they germinate much better when fresh.
Prepare a pot or flat of regular amaryllis potting soil. Place the seeds in small soil trenches and gently pull in the soil so that the seeds are covered about one-fourth inch. They should be put in a warm place.
Placing a newspaper or a glass over the top of the pot or flat during the germination period helps to keep the soil from drying out.
Water gently during this time; ensure the soil and seeds do not dry out. In about seven to ten days, the seedling amaryllis will begin to push their green spears through the ground.
Give Them Plenty of Sunlight
I have a small greenhouse in which I grow mine—but they will do equally well in a sunny window in your home.
Keep them in active growth, and do not allow them to be crowded. If you plant the seeds very thinly, transplanting may not be necessary until after the first blossoms begin within a deep flat.
However, if they do begin to crowd each other, transplant them to pots (I often use tin cans for this) or too-deep flats where they will have plenty of room to develop.
Groom Your Amaryllis
Groom your amaryllis so they will always appear at their best. If seeds are not wanted, remove the withered flowers, then a few days later, the entire blossom stalk.
Cut it as close to the bulb as possible. Winter blooming bulbs may be summered in a variety of ways.
You may plunge your amaryllis into a protected, shaded part of your garden right in their pots or take them from the container.
Fertilize them during the summer and give them plenty of water. I summer outside only those that have become pot-bound by offshoots.
A trench ten inches wide by ten inches deep with three inches of extra soil is loosened and mixed with well-rotted cow manure or dehydrated manure purchased at seed stores.
Bulbs are knocked from their pots and placed in the trench with soil worked carefully around each clump of bulbs.
When lifting time comes for these bulbs before frost, they are large, smooth, and heavy.
Leaf Growth
Many growers contend that if amaryllis makes leaf growth before the bud shows, it will not bloom.
No rule is unbreakable, for at the time I am writing this, the month of June, I have two bulbs blooming among foliage three feet tall.
These are some of my hybrids with the A. Belladonna strains strongly in them, although they have Dutch blood in them also.
Year-Round Blooming
If enough bulbs are kept growing year-round, one may enjoy blossoms almost every month of the year.
A question so often asked is, “Why do my amaryllis bloom the first year, then refuse to bloom the next?”
Flowers in season will result if good growth is made in the preceding period. Every four big strappy amaryllis leaves should store up one bud sheath in your amaryllis bulb. (This rule does not hold with young seedlings—they will probably have eight to ten strapping leaves many months before they are old enough to bloom.)
Storing Amaryllis Bulbs
When storing bulbs, be sure that they are clean and free of disease. Place them neck up in sand or peat moss.
Watch at all times for diseases, poorly developed bulbs, or pest infestation. Although amaryllis is nearly disease-free, the red fire disease proves very harmful if not checked.
A good treatment is a strong solution of Lysol—two teaspoons to one pint of water. Remove the bulbs from the soil and soak them in the solution for three to five hours before replanting.
Control Pests
Control red spiders and mealybugs with any good house plant spray. Mealybugs can be especially mean.
I know one grower who has many plants in his small greenhouse, most of them known to harbor mealybugs. Yet the mealybugs seem to prefer the amaryllis.
Scale, a roundish tan-colored sucking insect, may attack the amaryllis. They may be wiped off in small numbers with a soft cloth.
Otherwise, use a spray for them. The tiny black, thread-like thrip may also attack the amaryllis, but it is easily controlled with a house plant spray.
Experimenting Amaryllis
Several years ago, I experimented with my amaryllis to get repeat blossoms from the same bulb in the growing season. This has been termed the “Hardgrove Shock Treatment” since it did not seem to be in practice before this time, at least in this country.
The species A. striata, striata fulgida. Belladonna and others are best suited to this treatment, and I have had these to bloom every four months.
Start with a big bulb that is firm from having recently produced some good leaves. I like to start with the one that has just bloomed, although sometimes a big fat, firm bulb that did not bloom but should have will respond to this treatment.
First, cut the old bloom stem off and feed the plant well, keeping it in good growth until the bulb again becomes firm.
At this time, repot into rich soil, cut off the old leaves, leave the new center leaves, and water thoroughly.
Set back in a warm place until the new growth is evident—when you know it’s growing. Then, move to a sunny location (warm) and watch for the bud because it will soon be coming.
After this bloom is dried, repeat the process. It is the natural thing for the amaryllis to make seed pods. However, it takes energy from the bulb and should not be permitted unless you want the seeds.
Be sure to use only a well-developed bulb for this shock treatment. The process should not be repeated more than three or four times in one year.
Dormant Season in Amaryllis
During the latter part of August, or when the nights are cool, gradually stop watering your amaryllis so much and stop feeding.
The leaves should begin to yellow for their natural dormant season, which comes in the fall and very early winter.
As the weather becomes cooler, bring the plants indoors and remove all of the old leaves. A cool basement is an excellent place for amaryllis during rest.
Repot them some time during this period, and keep them slightly moist so they won’t shrivel from being bone dry.
After a rest of six or eight weeks, bring them back to a warm window and repeat the cycle.
44659 by Mrs. F. W. Hardgrove