The Amaryllis Plant for the Brown-Thumbed Gardener

I bought 3 wax-encased amaryllis bulbs. I found them at Lowe's in mid-November. Each bulb comes in its own little package with very simple instructions. The bulbs require no direct light or water. They were a bit pricey ($13 each), but I just had to give it a try. The first photo is what the package looks like.



The second photo is what the bulb actually looks like. There's a little metal stand fastened to the bottom of the bulb, allowing it to stand up straight.




I decided to place the 3 bulbs in a large green plastic bowl. When I was satisfied with the spacing, I surrounded the bulbs with large pine cones for a nice Christmasy look. As you can see in photo three, the plants were growing fast.




Voila! I had big beautiful red blooms right in time for Christmas!




I'm going to try to salvage these bulbs. If I'm successful, that'll be great. If not, I'm pretty certain I'll be able to find "The Amaryllis Plant for The Brown-Thumbed Gardener" in stores next season.