The Amaryllis Plant for the Brown-Thumbed Gardener

Welcome to the Member Ideas area! This community feature is where our members can post their own ideas. These posts are unedited and not necessarily endorsed by the National Gardening Association.
Posted by @PAgirl63 on
I've always had a "brown" thumb when it comes to growing amaryllises. Either I'll grow plants that have lush green leaves and no flowers, or the bulbs will just sit there and sulk. Or even worse, the bulbs turn to mush or they just shrivel up. This year I cheated and had success!

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.

Thumb of 2015-01-21/PAgirl63/7fc881

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.


Thumb of 2015-01-21/PAgirl63/4589a3

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.


Thumb of 2015-01-21/PAgirl63/1b1ac2

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


Thumb of 2015-01-21/PAgirl63/f7b98d

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.

 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Beautiful seasonal show by Seedfork Jan 24, 2015 2:12 PM 12
Untitled by donnabking Jan 24, 2015 1:05 PM 0
amaryllis bulbs for winter color by rabidgardener Jan 24, 2015 8:50 AM 0

Explore More:

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by Visual_Botanics and is called "Peony in abundance"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.