Now that winter has truly descended on us and our gardens are but lovely memories, do you miss the color of flowers in your yard? As a gardener, it is difficult to get through the gray days of winter, but there are options to cure your winter blahs with flowers in your home. Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus (covered in a previous column) are readily available now in shades of pink, orange and bright red. Poinsettias are now available at local garden centers; OSU-OKC has their annual sale going on until Dec. 14 and Canterbury Gardens in Midwest City is open Dec. 4 to 6 for their annual poinsettia sale as well. There is another option, also, and if you start now, you will have glorious blooms by Christmas. Read on!
One of the Christmas traditions around the country including here in Oklahoma is growing amaryllis in a pot so it will bloom for Christmas. A complete kit including the bulb, pot, soil and instructions is available at many local garden centers and variety stores, and growing this beautiful flower couldn’t be easier!
Amaryllis are large bell-shaped or lily-like flowers that come in a wide range of colors like red, white, pink, orange salmon and bi-colored shades. They typically have two to six flowers per stalk and the stalks range from 18 to 36 inches tall. The flower kit usually shows the color of the flower in a photo on the box, and these kits require no special treatment. Planting time for Christmas blooming should be late November or early December, so now is the perfect time to plant your amaryllis!
A purchased kit will contain a pot, a soil pellet, the bulb and instructions, and it is so easy to grow this beautiful plant. Amaryllis bulbs are quite large, so you will need at least a 6 inch pot if you are planting your own bulb. Kits usually contain plastic pots, but clay works just fine also. For the kit, place the soil pellet in the pot and fill with warm water to the amount specified in the directions; warm water works best for reconstituting the soil. If using your own pot, use any sterilized potting soil; a mixture containing equal parts of peat and perlite is excellent.
The amaryllis bulb should be planted with about one third to one half of the bulb above the surface of the soil, which will keep the bulb’s nose dry in order to avoid any fungal disease. Water your bulb immediately after planting and keep the soil slightly moist until your bulb flowers. It is best to water your plant when the soil surface feels dry to the touch; watering once a week is usually adequate.
Amaryllis grows best indoors in a well-lighted area that receives at least four hours of direct sunlight a day; southern exposure is best, but eastern or western facing windows are okay as well. As the stalk begins to lengthen, rotate your pot every few days so the stalk doesn’t lean. This flower prefers warm temperatures, 70 to 75 degrees, during the time the roots form and leaves and flower stalk begin to grow. However, once the plant flowers, it will last longer with cooler temperatures, about 65 degrees.
Once your bulb flowers, trim the flower stalk and continue to water and fertilize it through the winter months until spring. Then you can put it out in your garden and it will re-bloom during the summer. Be sure to plant the bulbs one foot apart in a bed that gets some shade during the afternoon hours, and make sure it doesn’t dry out. I have four amaryllis plants in my garden from separate years, and they have all bloomed gloriously during the summer months. Most have at least four blooms per stalk, and most of the bulbs have at least two stalks each.
For color to cure those winter blahs, try the amaryllis this year – it couldn’t be easier!
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autz is a retired Air Force Colonel and Master Gardener.
