Holiday Bulbs for the Coming Winter Doldrums
Hippeastrum and comes from South America. Today there are three main categories: the Dutch hybrids, the South African hybrids and the dwarf or specialty amaryllis. The Dutch and South African hybrids have extremely large flowers, 8-10 inches across. The flowers may be single or double and range in color from deep, velvety red through fire-engine red to orange, salmon, pink, white and blends of these. They grow about 22-24 inches tall and require a pot about 8" in diameter. The dwarf amaryllis are not all that small, just 18-20 inches tall with 6-8 inch flowers, but for smaller spaces or group plantings they can't be beat. They come in all the colors and forms mentioned for the big amaryllis and also include yellow, chartreuse and patterned flowers.
Like the Narcissus, they begin rooting when potted and watered. Use a container with a hole (they will rot with the water method) and an all purpose potting soil (without bark) or a combination of peat moss and perlite. The bulb should be set in the soil up to its widest point. It can be put in a dark cool (not under 60ยบ) place until the growth starts. Then bring them to the sunniest place you can to grow until the buds are about to open. They should dry out somewhat between waterings and don't need fertilizer before blooming. When the first buds are just about to open, water thoroughly and then do not water again until all the blooms have finished. It makes the blooms last much longer to do this. After blooming, cut off the bloom stalk and begin to feed the bulb with a balanced (5-10-5 or 10-15-10) liquid fertilizer once a month. As soon as the weather outside is warm enough to set out geraniums, put the amaryllis out for the summer in a sunny location. You can sink the pot into the soil in a flower bed or leave it on a patio. It can stand full sun, even prefers it, but not the heat that is reflected from patio masonry.
When it goes out for the summer, begin feeding the bulb once a week. Use the same all-purpose fertilizer you used indoors. Water it when dry if the rain doesn't come. Sometime after the beginning of September bring the bulb indoors and quit watering it. Leave it dry for anywhere from 6 weeks to three months. This simulates the dry
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