It does seem to be a "fad" @cwhitt. And we are a throw away society There is so much information on the internet about regrowing amaryllis. If people would just take a sec and google the plant they would understand. It doesn't just bloom once, duh. You would think they'd get a clue from the variety of bulbs they grow in their flower beds!

In the gift shop at the Naples (Florida) Botanical Gardens. These have NOT been dipped in wax, but wrapped in glittery cloth. Just as pretty, but these bulbs can be removed from the cloth and planted. A much better idea.

But why do this in the first place? Does it increase sales?

I'm not sure, but it sure is better than dipping it in wax.

I received a big planting of amaryllis (no wax) prior to Christmas. They have all bloomed, now what do I do?

Tracy, lucky you getting lots of amaryllis. Treat them as a houseplant until spring, water when the soil is dry. After your last frost, put the pots outside, 1/2 day sun, water and fertilizer in the summer. Next spring's flowers are made this summer deep in the bulb. Stop watering in fall so the soil dries out, bring the pots back into the house before frost. I see that you live in zone 8B, which is just on the edge of being able to plant the bulbs in your garden as a year round addition to your landscape. I live in 9A and plant them in the ground, covering them with a frost blanket or a pile of leaves, if we are going to have frost or a prolong cold for a few days. If you have a sheltered location with excellent drainage, against a wall which radiates heat at night, you might do fine with them outside. The goal is to keep the bulb from freezing. In 8B, many people don't want to deal with the freezing risk so they grow the bulbs in pots that can be moved inside.

Oh, no. Found this in my neighborhood grocery store. Not an amaryllis but still a crime. Apparently this is an homage to the Dallas Cowboys. The team's colors are blue, silver and white.




These can be yours for $7.99. Plus they're guaranteed to last.

That really is hideous!

There are folks who have no outside to plant in, many are homebound. If an amaryllis blooms, sometimes that bulb won't rebloom, but the new bulb it starts will bloom. For some of us, our amaryllis can be monsters, I am south of Bryan- closer to Hempstead- my amaryllis survive outside all year- and will in Bryan too. They go dormant. The 3 bulbs I originally had have become an intermingled mass at least 5' square and try to keep spreading. The bulbs can reach the size of a basketball...those roots pull the bulbs downward- the new bulbs will push them down as well and then you have 5' of bulb depth. Up north they are precious bulbs, down here they can become monsters and take over your world. You guys keep a perspective on locations. I see wax bulbs as a boon to elderly who would otherwise have no blooms, and harden my heart to manage the growth and spread where needed. Just look at California and the flowers that are grown essentially for the rose parades and floats and enjoy all that effort on someone elses efforts. Those fields are gorgeous.

Kat I don't think anyone would argue against the fact that a lot of people grow Amaryllis as a temporary plant, they're sold by the million for the holiday season and people grow them to bloom and throw them away, a lot perhaps not realising that they can keep them growing for next year. A lot of plants like cyclamen and kalanchoe are "temporary" pot plants. But encasing a bulb in wax is completely beyond the pale IMO. Those plants are being sold essentially as already dead.

I was really happy to see that the Naples Botanical Gardens was selling theirs wrapped in the glitter cloth instead of wax dipped. True that many of those bulbs may eventually get discarded anyway, but at least the garden is not selling them as throw away, and having a viable bulb may encourage some newbies to at least try their hand at re-blooming them.

Another crime. Saw these at my neighborhood grocery store a few nights ago. Haven't seen them anywhere else. Yet.

Well someone is making money on that at 2.99 each. Haven't seen this yet, but I'm sure its coming to a grocery near me.

They're also sold by the bunch. 💐

New crime. Just for St. Patty's Day.

I guess that the roses are supposed to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Or maybe this is all the gold that's actually in that pot of gold.




(I'd be a little ticked.)

Oh my, how hideous is that? These plants are beautiful in their own right, so sad to see them subjected to this treatment. I really don't understand why anyone would buy that.

and all that adhesive all over those leaves - they can't possible breathe

kniphofia said:Oh my, how hideous is that? These plants are beautiful in their own right, so sad to see them subjected to this treatment.

That's exactly why I named this thread 'A Crime Has Been Committed'. Granted, when I first created the thread it was about Amaryllis dipped in wax. Thus it's parked here in the Amaryllis and Hippeastrum Forum even though the crimes have branched out to roses, succulents, and a really hideous bouquet of dahlias - or maybe they were carnations? - that looked to be spray painted with the colors of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Can't beat that with a stick! 🙈