Several years ago, my Aunt sent me an amaryllis bulb in November. It came with a cheap plastic pot and a hockey puck shaped disc of freeze-dried soil. The instructions called for adding warm water to the puck, fluffing the soil (it grew substantially), and inserting the bulb. Easy enough. I set it on the mantle and watered it occasionally. To my surprise, it grew inches each week and eventually, around December 20th or so, it bloomed the most beautiful flowers ever.
Sadly, it met an early demise when the flimsy pot was just not strong enough for the extremely top heavy flower. It toppled and that was the end.
Though I absolutely loved the flower and the festive attitude it brought to the house, I didn't recreate the scene in the following years. You have all probably seen the amaryllis kits on sale at stores and they are, all things considered, pretty expensive. I mean, who wants to pay 15 dollars for one bulb and a crappy, cheap looking pot. So I went without. Why it didn't occur to me to just buy the bulb at a nursery, I don't know. Either way, I didn't buy the bulbs. It might be a secret fear of figuring out how to force bulbs. I tried it once and it did not work-- at all.
About a month ago, I was at Anderson's Nursery with SRC and my mom. I was in a daring mood, so I bought three bulbs. The bulbs were paperwhites and pretty cheap- I figure, if I failed at least I didn't waste too much money. Yes, there were amaryllis bulbs, but I resisted, or refused, I can't really say. I wrapped the three bulbs in a kitchen towel and promptly stuck them in the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
In steps the amaryllis. I have been up in Northern Cali quite a bit in the last month or so. A little over a week ago I was strolling the Ukiah Wal-Mart (because that is just what you do), and behold, the same amaryllis kit that I received from my aunt was staring at me! You know what, it was only 5 dollars (yeah....it was wal-mart after all). I bought it, ditched the crappy pot and packed it in the luggage for the trip to SD.
Last Wednesday, I planted it. The bulb was ready for planting, I could already see the pale greenish white sprout forming on the top of the bulb. Also, I checked the paperwhites and found that two out of the three had the little sprout forming as well. One was actually developing roots. The third was not ready and was replaced in the refrigerator. I planted the paperwhites in some crappy left over soil from the summer. I figured that since these suckers could grow in just water and rocks, crappy soil would be just fine.
Here are the pictures from exactly one week later. Are you growing any winter bulbs? Please share. I will do my best to post new pictures every week to track their progress. I really hope I can get some beautiful flowers. I am thinking of starting the third bulb in some pretty rocks and a squat glass vase, perhaps it can be a gift.
Amaryllis in a pretty pot from my Grandma. Week 1.
Paperwhites in Ikea pots. Week 1.
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