Amazing amaryllis
These spectacular blooms are just the thing to brighten up your home this winter
However patient you are, every now and then you need a bit of instant action as far as gardening is concerned – something that will grow before your very eyes. In spring and summer that might not be hard to achieve but at this time of year it is a tall order.
That’s where hippeastrums come in. Amaryllis is their other name and they produce flowers of tremendous spectacle from fat and dormant bulbs, with very little trouble.
The only difficulty you may encounter is if you are too handy with the watering can.
You will find the bulbs now, loose or in cardboard boxes, at your local nursery or garden centre. You may even discover them in hardware stores, sitting there, fat and promising, just waiting to grow. Choose the largest, fattest, hardest bulbs you can find – a gentle squeeze will assure you of their firmness but don’t start digging your nails in. Take them home and give them each a 5in flowerpot of John Innes No2 potting compost.
Plant so the top half of the bulb is visible above the compost, burying just the bottom couple of inches.
Moisten the compost before you pot up the bulbs and bear in mind you will not need to apply water until the flower spike is clear of the bulb.
Give too much water in the early stages and you will find the bulb has a tendency to produce leaves rather than flowers. Moist compost from the outset offers enough encouragement for the flower to push up out of the bulb, leaving the foliage behind. As it extends, apply water cautiously – the compost should never be soggy. Eventually the flower cluster will open at the top of the sturdy stalk – trumpet-shaped blooms of white, pink, scarlet or crimson, often striped in a contrasting shade.
They are wonderful plants for a windowsill and great for encouraging children when it comes to growing things. As the flowers fade and the strap-shaped leaves begin to unfurl, you can begin to water more readily.
You should apply liquid tomato feed once a week from April to July or August, when watering should cease and the bulb be allowed to dry out.
When the foliage has withered, cut it off just above the top of the bulb and knock away all the compost.
A month or two in a warm, dry place such as your airing cupboard, will help to initiate next year’s flowers.
Then the whole process can begin all over again when you pot up the bulb in late autumn or early winter.
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They are great plants if you want to encourage children to grow things