Gladioli Nobleton & King City

Horticultural Society


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Potpourri

Amaryllis

Hippeastrum Amaryllis Galaxy 'Amorice' If you received an amaryllis bulb for Christmas it’s probably just finished blooming so now is the time to pick off the dead blooms and cut off the scape (the tall leafless stalk which held these blooms) at the point where it came out of the top of the bulb. Don't, however, cut the leaves but continue to water the plant until these long strap like leaves die back naturally as while they’re green they continue to feed bulb rebuilding its strength so it can rebloom.

Once the leaves die back put the potted bulb in a cool but non-freezing spot and let the soil completely dry out until you can put it out in the garden come mid June when all danger of frost is over. Then plant the now dormant bulb in an unobtrusive place in the flower or vegetable garden but don’t forget to bring it indoors again before fall frosts begin.

Hippeastrum Amaryllis Trumpet 'Misty' I then replant it in a large heavy clay pot because if it does produce a new flower stalk and bud it will become top heavy and in a light weight pot there’s the danger of the whole thing toppling over.

I always put a good helping of small rocks or broken clay pottery in the bottom of a large clay or plastic container before putting in the potting soil.

These lilies are native to the subtropical and tropical Americas where they grow outdoors, just as our daffodils (distant cousins as are snowdrops) do here, so reblooming isn’t a problem. But the amaryllis bulbs we buy in our area are forced to bloom out of season which quickly depleting a great deal of their strength and therefore they require a long recovery period before they'll rebloom. I’ve gone astray by not recognizing this and expecting my amaryllis to rebloom Hippeastrum Amaryllis Double 'Aphrodite' in a year's time. Then when it doesn’t co-operate I’ve tossed it out on the compost pile. I should have realized this situation as I know potted tulips and daffodils like those now for sale in our local supermarkets have been forced to flower out of season and when I’ve kept their bulbs over the summer and planted them in the garden in the fall I know they’ll take two or more years to flower again so why would I think amaryllis should be different! Of course the big difference is forced tulip and daffodil bulbs once planted are winter hardy can stay outdoors all year long but amaryllis bulbs must be dug up in the fall and wintered indoors. Planting them out in the spring and bringing them inside in the fall over two or three years can seem a nuisance but if I want the chance to see my expensive bulb rebloom this is what has to be done.

Hippeastrum Amaryllis Cybister 'Sumatra' In spite of all my efforts and patience there is the possibility the bulb will simply continue to produce green leaves and won’t rebloom. Amaryllis gets its name from amaryysso, Latinized Greek meaning 'to sparkle'. The Roman poet, Virgil called the shepherdess in his Eclogues (poems set in the countryside) Amaryllis. There is still controversy in the botanical world as to whether the bulbs we see in our region for sale should really be called amaryllis the name claimed by a closely related plant native to South Africa or hippeastrum from the Greek for 'knight’s star' (the name given them for a now unknown reason by British botanist and clergyman, William Herbert who specialized in growing them). A century earlier Linneaus (Karl von Linne), the father of modern botany, had called both the South African and the native to the Americas, amaryllis and that name is now in general use.

All-year garden centres close to the King Township usually get a fresh supply of bulbs in late February to early March just in time for you to plant one up for the amaryllis category in Nobleton King City Horticultural Society's March flower show and meeting in the Nobleton Community Hall.

Originally published in the King Township Sentinel on February 22, 2012 by John Arnott