Unlike the old shoe that is worn down at the heel and cast aside, the amaryllis bulb that has been forced into bloom around Christmas or during January and early February can be utilized for further beauty in the garden. Digging for Bulbs Amaryllis growers start digging in October. The bulbs are dried for a … Read more
Of all indoor flowering plants, the Amaryllis is one of the easiest to bring into bloom. Amaryllis will flower in water, with the bulb’s base barely touching the water, and in commercial plant fiber, in poor soil, or soil prepared especially for it. Amaryllis are favorite plants with indoor gardeners because of their large, showy, … Read more
Our grandmothers grew pots of amaryllis and their grandmothers before them. Sometimes, even the grandfathers did. It is so ancient a custom that one may wonder which was the original pot plant, amaryllis or geranium. But they have not always been common. Amaryllis Rutila The first amaryllis I ever saw was probably Amaryllis rutila. Later, … Read more
If you would like to attain the reputation of being a particularly successful window gardener, grow the gorgeous Dutch hybrid amaryllis. One bowl or even 10 of these spectacular, tropical bulbs arranged along a window sill, with their huge scarlet, white, orange, or pink blossoms silhouetted against the snow outside, is a dramatic sight — … Read more
The Resurrection Lily – Lycoris squamigera is one of those plants touched with enchantment. Like larger daffodils, its leaves appear in early spring, die, and disappear by the first of July. Then, usually in August, as if in obedience to a wizard’s command (so rapidly do they develop), naked flower stalks, 2′ to 3′ feet … Read more
Amaryllis has been called the queen of the window garden – brilliant colors, beautiful simple pastels, striped and bordered blossoms holding geometric fascination, capped off with pure white blooms seem to be a little bit of Heaven. Originally a dainty flowered species from South Africa, the Amaryllis is now cherished for its ability to produce … Read more
The Nerine is an unusual and lovely bulb plant with a coral red lily-like bulb. It is a near relation to the Guernsey lily of the amaryllis family. It is easy to grow and free from insect pests or fungus diseases. Corolla and stamens are an unusual shade of coral red – neither red nor … Read more
Patience is probably the greatest attribute a gardener can have and the accompanying. The illustration shows the rewards which came to me after sufficient patience with amaryllis. In October 1956, a friend gave me an amaryllis bulb, dried and desiccated looking as they so often are during their dormancy. It was “guaranteed” to bloom, so … Read more
Amaryllis, also known as Hippeastrum x hybridum or simply Hippeastrum (hi-pee-a-struhm), is a herbaceous bulbous plant belonging to the genus Hippeastrum and a member of the family Amaryllidaceae or the Amaryllis family. The genus Hippeastrum, which means “knight’s star in Latin,” was given by the British botanist William Herbert in the 1800s. It was said … Read more
Amaryllis is my favorite house plant, although it often taxes my devotion. While the bulbs seem to go on forever and never die, their blooming performance is decidedly temperamental to me. I class them as feminine, “uncertain, coy and hard to please,” to quote the poet, but I am duly grateful when they give their … Read more