Amaryllis for the Holidays

Well I'm going for it again!

I bought two Amaryllis bulbs at

Lowe's yesterday.

It says 8 weeks till bloom so

I guess I can't count on them 

for Christmas! Darn!

 I was impressed that they came with

their own ceramic pot and for

$8.98 I thought that was a deal!

Of course they usually get a little floppy

and need support but it's enjoyable

to see something blooming in

the winter!

So you get two discs of compressed 

peat moss and dirt 

They instructed me to put the discs in the

pot and add two cups of warm water

to each pot.

Once they absorbed all the water

they filled the pot.  I fluffed a fork

to loosen.

Then I started to sculpt out a hole

for the bulb.

There was way too much soil 

Don't worry I sanitized the counter

when I was done!

 I compressed the soil as I went along

and filled it right up to the top.  

You leave 1 to 2 inches of the bulb

above the soil.

All ready!  Now GROW!!

I put them in the sunniest spot I have

and as you can see we got snow

last night.  It will melt soon 

but for now I'm glad to be inside all

warm and cozy!

 This is one I grew in the winter of

2009/10 

It grew to almost 40" tall

It was difficult to keep it

supported.  They don't usually

get this tall, I just happened to

pick one out that did!

I got a 2nd 

shoot off of it and it bloomed

again. I had this going through

February!

It was one of the prettiest reds I've 

ever seen...I just wished I had it

blooming during the Christmas

season.  

This was last years.  Not quite as spectacular.

I've decided I prefer the reds, especially for the

holidays!  These were sold for the 

Susan G. Komen for the cure, for Breast Cancer

research.  A very worthy cause.

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Have you ever grown Amaryllis?  It's

extremely easy! Keep them watered 

and watch them grow!