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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Amaryllis in Bloom

I just returned from a glorious week in Cancun, Mexico. It was a wonderful family vacation and a timely respite from the cold and snow of Long Island, NY. Just before I left, however, I noticed my Amaryllis plants - the ones I have been anxiously waiting to bloom - were just about to burst open. Ugh, what rotten timing!

Here is what I saw two days before my departure:


 The beautiful bud, just teasing me now...


I decide to try to force it a little by placing it under some kitchen lights that give off a lot of heat. By the afternoon, I see it is working slowly:


The next day, the flower begins to open:


And the morning of my departure, I finally got to see at least one of the flowers. I didn't know if it would be dead by the time I came back or if I would miss the entire show:


But I didn't! When I got home from my trip - a full week later - I was welcomed with three beautiful blooms on one of the plants:


And the other Amaryllis is just starting to open too!:


This one is an all white variety with a thin red line around the edges of the flower petals. So very pretty and delicate looking:


Thank you, Amaryllis, for welcoming me home with such splendor!

4 comments:

  1. I got an amaryllis kit for Christmas, and much to my disappointment I now have 6 really long leaves and no buds. Bad bulb or bad gardener?

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  2. Are you sure there they are leaves and not a stalk with a bud in it? The leaves usually come after the stalk and fan out to the side, whereas the stalk grows straight up. I don't think it's bad gardening though. If anything, its a bad bulb, or one that was not taken care of properly before it got into your hands.

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  3. I've got a nice fan of 15 inch+ leaves, and no center stalk in sight. Oh well! Thanks for the reply. Love the site!

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  4. That is definitely a pleasant surprise. Beautiful!

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