A Cheering Winter Star
I was in need of a morale boost a couple of weeks ago, and soon the answer came to me: Amaryllis bulbs. Something I could order immediately, plant indoors, and enjoy while the garden was still a frozen wasteland. It was a little late to order Amaryllis – most varieties were sold out – but I was still happy with the selections I made.
An important point of clarification here: these are not Amaryllis Amaryllis. These are Hippeastrum Amaryllis. As with Geranium/Pelargonium, this is an instance where the taxonomists couldn’t make up their minds for decades but in the end us ordinary gardeners have to live with the confusion and fear of using the wrong name, as if it were out fault.
Hippeastrum, what we normally call Amaryllis, is a genus of plants from Central and South America. In the Northern Hemisphere, we grow them to bloom indoors during the winter. Amaryllis is a genus of plants from South Africa, generally grown outdoors.
Anyway, I ordered a total of seven bulbs from John Scheepers. I was excited when the box arrived on Friday.
Yesterday I potted up the newly arrived bulbs. I used ceramic pots that had been brought in for the winter.
The potted bulbs are sitting on the dining room table. Now every morning I can examine them minutely for signs of growth. Having plants to obsess over helps me maintain my mental equilibrium.
There’s more sun on the back porch but it tends to be too cold for tropical and sub-tropical bulbs to break dormancy. The light in the dining room has proven to be adequate in the past.
I’m trying out a new variety called ‘Picotee’. I was drawn to the pictures of big white flowers with crimson edges on the John Scheepers website. This is a late-blooming Royal Dutch Single Amaryllis. It generally takes two months or more to flower. That’s OK, though – if they bloom between February and early March, we can enjoy the flowers just as we need them the most.
The second variety I ordered is ‘Trentino’, a Christmas flowering Amaryllis. It should bloom in four to six weeks. ‘Trentino’ has smaller 4″ flowers on stems about 14″ high.
The last variety I got is ‘Miracle’, what I think of as a more traditional Christmas blooming Amarillys with big 7″ red flowers.
In the past I’ve been very bad about saving Amaryllis bulbs over the summer, but this year I resolve to do better.
The British botanist William Herbert gave the genus Hippeastrum its name, which comes from the Greek for knight’s star. The connection to knights has been puzzling people ever since, but the flowers have a starlike shape and quality. Certainly their satiny texture, rich colors, and generous size gladdens the winter-weary.
Are you planting Amaryllis/Hippeastrum this winter?
gardeninacity 
We have amaryllis in the pot. It hasn’t bloomed yet.
Well, that’s something to look forward to.
Something to look forward to.
I don’t have a good spot to grow amaryllis or I would. 😦 I love how big and bold the flowers are.
Are you sure? I remember you’ve got lots of light in your dining area.
Beautiful. 🙂 I have thought of it but with heading to SC in January, it didn’t seem to make sense this year.
Sure, I can see that.
I had several of these that I would nurture every year and have blooms at Christmas. Then one year I went to take the bulbs out for replanting and something had turned them to mush. Now I just enjoy them when I visit the local garden center.
I’m afraid if I try to overwinter them mine will also turn to mush. That’s what happens when I try to overwinter Calladums. Still, I’m willing to try again.
I have one amaryllis. I don’t know what kind it is. I received it as a gift last November. It was dipped in wax. I pealed the wax off and babied it through winter after it stopped blooming. Then I planted it in the ground just outside the back door. It made new leaves. I forgot about it and just brought it inside yesterday. I will put it onto a bulb vase any day now. The varieties you have chosen to plant are beautiful. Good luck with them. What kind of bulbs do you have in your dining room light that they encourage amaryllis to bloom? Are they something special?
Just normal light bulb. Indirect south and east light from windows, and I guess north also – kind of in the middle of the house without direct sun, not too bright, but apparently enough.
We just have ordinary light bulbs. I assume it’s the indirect light from the windows that the Amaryllis depends on.
Lovely flowers. Can’t wait to see the photos of them in bloom.I purchased two Hippeastrum “The Clown” at the Tyler bulb sale and planted them outdoors (zone 8). Now I wonder if this wasn’t a mistake?
I don’t know – we’re in zone 5, so outdoor planting is not an option here.
These are stunning!
I look forward to the flowers.
I am familiar with the Amaryllis from South Africa, as my mother lived there. They are simply beautiful and would surely cheer up anyone with the winter blues. I love the red trim on Amaryllis Picotee….perfect!
I think ‘Picotee’ is my favorite among the ones I’m growing this year.
A friend gave me a white amaryllis last Christmas that had 5 blooms on it. I’ve never seen one with that many flowers before.
That sounds really lovely.
We have them at work on display on the counter, but personally, I shy away from flowers with such big blooms. No idea, why. This summer, I planted two Irises. Their lovely, bluefringed, white bloooms, although half the size of amaryllis, looked somehow unnatural among all the other perrenials.
Are you forcing the Irises indoors? I’ve never tried that.
Nope, I just put them in this spring and they bloomed in autumn. Weird timing.
Hello Jason, I miss Amaryllis, we tried to keep our one bulb going several years ago but all it was interested in was producing masses of offsets at the expense of the original bulb. Lots of foliage and no flowers. I can’t wait to see yours in flower in a few weeks. Will you keep us posted on how you save the bulbs for next year?
Defintely!
Such fun! I have some paper whites going, but ended up giving the Hippeastrum bulbs as gifts.
I might get some paperwhites when we get home after the holidays.
Cheering! Merry Christmas!
…always hope…
🙂
Merry Christmas to you as well!
I purchased a book on forcing bulbs indoors over the winter many years ago…but have yet to give it a try. I’m looking forward to your posts as the bulbs come to life…they may just give me the added push to give this a go next year.
‘Trentino’ is breaking dormancy as of today, the others not so much.
Just the thing for this glum November/December.
That’s what I thought.
Nice choices Jason. I have planted a few again this year, but the only one that survived from last year without shrivelling up completely has produced only leaves. I have now given up trying to make them flower again! One of mine should be flowering by Christmas, but the others are incredibly slow to sprout…. Good luck with yours!
They’ve been slow for me when the temps inside are low – an excuse for turning up the heat!
I used to grow a lot of Amaryllis and I always set them out in the shade under a shrub for the summer and just forgot about them until fall.
Have you ever thought of paper whites for that cool, sunny porch? That’s just what they like.
Have fun obsessing!
Already getting worked up about how there’s no sign of breaking dormancy on the larger bulbs.
What beauties you’ve chosen,looking at those roots the bulbs are rearing to go.I Love the red rimmed ones, I shall enjoy all of yours, I’ve never grown one, reading this has me sorely tempted.xxx
Yes, the red rimmed one may be my favorite this year.
Oh, this will be fun. That is such a joyful experience, isn’t it–seeing the first signs of new growth after dormancy. Enjoy!
Next best thing to being outside in the garden. Speaking of which the temperature is 0 degrees today. Kind of shocking after such a warm autumn.
Picotee captured my imagination when I saw it here. Good luck with all of the amaryllis. Your reward will be great for planning ahead.
I hope so!
Wow! absolutely beautiful blooms they seem to have. I especially like the white one. No, I am not growing any bulbs indoor now except paperwhite given by my friend.
Well, I hope when mine bloom that they look as good as the ones in the catalogs.