Amaryllis for Valentine's Day

Most people view amaryllis (Hippeastrum spp.) as a Christmas season plant and they do beautifully in that capacity. I like to spread my winter color out a bit, though, so I concentrate on the readily available beautiful poinsettias for Christmas and coax my amaryllis bulbs to put forth their best efforts around Valentine's Day.

That means I need to start preparing them right around Christmas time. Generally, an amaryllis will put forth new growth within a week or so after planting and bloom within about six to seven weeks. They are easy to grow and bloom beautifully for a period of several weeks, with each individual blossom lasting up to a week.

 Amaryllis bulbs can be saved from year to year. When they finish blooming,  continue to water and fertilize them regularly and as soon as all danger of frost is gone, move them to a sheltered spot outdoors.  Continue to water and fertilize them regularly throughout the growing season. When hard, killing frost is predicted in the fall, bring the potted amaryllis in, place them in a cool, dark spot and stop watering them. Once the foliage has gone dormant, trim it off and store the bulbs for about a six week rest period.  

Around Christmas, bring the bulbs out of storage. If the bulbs are not crowded in their pots, add a top-dressing of compost to the pot, just enough to fill the container to within about one inch from the top and still leave about the top one-third of the bulb exposed.  Place the pot in a warm, sunny location, and begin watering regularly. If the bulbs are crowded, or the soil is very compacted, they should be re-planted.

Remove the bulbs from the old container, shake off the old soil and prune any roots that are not nice and plump, solid and white.  Sometimes, there will be smaller bulbs growing around the sides of the old bulb.  These bulbs can be gently separated from the parent bulb and potted on their own.  They may not bloom the first year or so, but eventually you will have another beautiful amaryllis plant.

The bulbs should be planted in a container large enough to allow the roots to be spread nicely.  The circumference of the pot should allow about 1 to 1 1/2 inches on all sides of the bulb.  Fill the container about 1/3 full of good quality potting soil, then place the bulb on top, spreading the roots on top of the soil.  Cover the roots carefully and fill the container with potting soil until only the top 1/3 of the bulb is exposed.  The small "baby" bulbs can be planted individually or in groups in container, following the same procedure as for the parent bulbs.

After planting, water and place the container in a warm, sunny location and wait for the flower stalk to emerge within a few weeks.  Typically, the flower stalk emerges before the leaves begin to emerge and the flowers will bloom a few weeks later.