{"id":13839,"date":"2023-11-22T12:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T17:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=13839"},"modified":"2023-11-14T13:28:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T18:28:42","slug":"amaryllis-make-great-holiday-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2023\/11\/22\/amaryllis-make-great-holiday-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Amaryllis Make Great Holiday Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Amaryllis at Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What do you gift the gardener friends in your life? Let me suggest a flowering amaryllis bulb or one that is blooming in the plant shoppe. Amaryllis is a tropical bulb that blooms indoors usually in winter season (USDA hardiness zones 9-11). It is a big, beautiful bouquet that is among the easiest plants to grow. A single amaryllis bulb is a flowering dynamo. Simply, you just plant the bulb into a container and add water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many varieties and colors to choose. Usually, local garden centers\nsell bulbs starting in early fall and offer some already blooming. Bulb size is\nimportant. I recommend purchasing large size bulbs over 30 cm across that\nproduce several bloom stalks and greater numbers of flowers. For example, a 34\ncm bulb size should produce 2-4 bloom stalks, each bearing 3-4 flowers. The\nnewly potted bulb should flower in 6-8 weeks if room temps are between 68-72\u00b0F.\nNewly purchased amaryllis bulbs should be planted immediately or can be\nstored over several months in a cool dark (40-50\u00b0F) dry place prior to\npotting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amaryllis blooming at Biltmore Conservatory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Select a pot with a wide base, large enough to accommodate the new bulb.\nFill the bottom of the container with fresh potting media and set the bulb on\ntop. Finish filling and packing the potting mix. Leave 1-2 inches of the bulb top\n(the shoulders and neck) exposed. Thoroughly water the potting media to settle\nthe bulb. Place the pot in a cool (60-70\u00b0F) location and in bright light\nindoors or one-half day morning sunlight outdoors. The bulb is dormant\nand ready to sprout. A bulb potted in early November should be blooming by New\nYear\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue to water as needed after shoots and flower buds have emerged. Rotate\nthe pot \u00bc turn every 4-5 days to keep the stem growing straight up and not\nbending toward the window light. Avoid overwatering that may cause the amaryllis\nbulb to rot. The large flowers may become top heavy. If needed, stake the\nflower stalk for additional support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blooms last longer if you can keep them away from direct sunlight and\ndry heat. As the individual flowers fade, snip them off with a sharp knife. Eventually, cut\nback the entire bloom stalk to about an inch above the bulb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to rebloom your amaryllis? Simply stop watering in the fall and store\nthe potted bulb in a cool storage area and very low light for 2-3 months. Clip\noff the old dried leaves have dried up and the bulb is now dormant. Starting in\nlate January or February, restart the amaryllis by watering it. It should\nrebloom in 6-10 weeks at room temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In a garden bed (zone 7)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amaryllis bulbs will re-bloom annually in the same pot for several years. After spring freeze and frosts are over, move amaryllis outdoors into \u00bd day of sunlight (full morning preferred) and protect from drying winds. From spring to early fall, continue to water as needed and feed monthly with a water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle Gro\u2122<\/strong> or Peters\u2122<\/strong>. Bring the pot back indoors when night temperatures fall below 40\u00b0F. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amaryllis bulbs make great holiday gifts for garden friends and neighbors. Brent and Becky\u2019s Bulbs, an online bulb emporium in Gloucester, VA, lists many colorful varieties in their on-line catalog. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do you gift the gardener friends in your life? Let me suggest a flowering amaryllis bulb or one that is blooming in the plant shoppe. Amaryllis is a tropical bulb that blooms indoors usually in winter season (USDA hardiness zones 9-11). It is a big, beautiful bouquet that is among the easiest plants to grow. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,1293,871,1319,1226,778,665,1138,626,602,853,1571,843,847,729,777,630,705,756,113,1222,708,642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13839"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14381,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13839\/revisions\/14381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}