Amaryllis Made Easy: A Winter Bloom Worth the Effort

This week I want to move away from houseplants that we don’t grow for their flowers — tropical foliage — to one that we grow primarily for its blooms and, tangentially, for its foliage. It’s a bit more challenging for most, but once you learn the basics, it opens up an additional realm of gardening.

Introducing one of my all-time favorites: the amaryllis. These are large bulbs native to Africa and South America, though the ones we buy come from Holland. When grown indoors, they tend to flower from December into February, but they can be timed for other winter months. The bulbs are showing up now in garden centers and can be ordered online, as well. If you’re not familiar with them, look at the White Flower Farm catalogue — either the one that comes in the mail, or the online version — where you’ll find a large selection but at premium prices. On the other hand, they offer 70 varieties that you’ll find hard to match.

These bulbs actually form their flowers almost a year before we start bringing them out of dormancy in our homes. If you’re a casual gardener, and not interested in the challenge of holding the bulbs over from year to year, that’s an option. For those up for it, the bulbs can be forced into flower and, with proper timing, you can usually calculate when they will bloom based on when you start them.

First, though, I don’t suggest that you buy preplanted bulbs. When you pot up your own, it’s less expensive and you have more control over the growing process. The pot can be clay or plastic. If you have managed to grow your houseplants and not over-water and kill them that way, then a plastic pot is an option. If you tend to be a heavy waterer, then clay is the better choice. The other reason to use a clay pot is that they are heavier and will better anchor and balance the tall flower stem and foliage, which can reach out and up several feet unless you grow a dwarf variety.

The bulbs are sold and priced based on the circumference — 32 to 34 centimeters, which is about 12½ to 13½ inches and a common size. In this case, size does count, as the larger the bulb, the more likely you are to get two to three stems (and flowers) developing. The rule of thumb is that your pot should be about 1 inch larger than the diameter of the bulb and, since pots are measured by their diameter and the bulbs are measured by their circumference, you need to do a bit of math. Most of the time, though, a 6-to-8-inch pot will do, and don’t use a bulb pot or bulb pan for forcing bulbs, such as daffodils. Use a standard pot, which has substantially more depth.

There is a risk in using a pot that’s too wide and an advantage to using a pot that’s just an inch wider than the bulb. These plants seem to perform best when they are somewhat tight in the pot. As for soil, Pro-Mix is fine, but avoid potting soils that are heavy, as they will retain too much water and cause the bulb to rot. If for some reason you buy a kit including the pot, bulb and soil, you’ll find that the soil included is always a peat-lite mix like Pro-Mix. The bulb should be placed in the pot so that a third of the bulb is above the soil. Lower, it will rot, and higher, it will topple over as it grows.

Amaryllis is also very popular as a holiday gift. My feeling is that a kit lets the recipient learn more about the bulb. If your intended is totally clueless, then resort to a prepotted bulb. As we get closer to the holidays, you may even find preplanted bulbs that have stems reaching out of the pot, or they may even be in bloom. These will probably be the least likely to survive for more than one bloom cycle.

Now we get to the critical timing. If you want to have your bulb flowering for the holidays, or for a particular occasion, it will take seven to nine weeks from potting to flowering in general. So, if you want your bulbs flowering for Christmas, you need to start them by or around November 5. “Starting” means the bulb is planted, watered (from the bottom only) and put in a warm spot, but not yet in direct sun. Careful with the water. The plant will use water sparingly until the flower stalk and foliage emerges.

Keep the potted bulb warm and the soil moist, but not wet. A soil temperature of 70 degrees or higher would be perfect. Once you see the bulb starting to show signs of life as the foliage and/or the flower spike emerge, you can move the pot to a spot where there’s bright light, or even a few hours of sunlight. Continue watering from the bottom, but be careful. Remember that you can always add water, but you can never remove it from the pot.

Give the pot a quarter turn (always in the same direction) every two to three days. There’s no need to add any fertilizer, but if you want to rebloom your bulb for next year, you’ll want to add a fertilizer high in phosphorus (the middle number) in a ratio similar to 1-2-1, which translates to something like 5-10-5. No fertilizer until the leaves emerge, though. An organic liquid fertilizer is preferred. Continue feeding through the spring and summer until you force the bulb back into dormancy.

When the flower is finished, cut the flower stalk about 2 inches above the bulb so the stem will cure and heal. You can grow the bulb on for its sword-like foliage, but the leaves can get rather long and may need to be gently tied together with a piece of raffia if they get out of hand. Remember, it’s these leaves that are now feeding next year’s flower bud forming inside the bulb.

The plant, sans flower stalk, can remain indoors or, in early summer, it can go outdoors in a bright spot that gets early- or late-day sun. Keep it watered and continue to feed it. In late summer or early fall, withhold water and fertilizer to begin forcing the bulb into dormancy. The foliage will yellow, then brown, and it can be cut off as it loses all its yellow.

The bulb now needs six to eight weeks of dormancy in a cool spot like an unheated basement, but I’ve recently read that the bulb can also go into a refrigerator’s vegetable crisper as long as the temperature remains above 40 degrees and below 50 degrees. We have an old stone wine cellar in our basement that I’ve found to be perfect for this. At the end of the dormant period, repot the bulb and start the process all over again, making sure that you give the bulb at least eight weeks before you expect it to rebloom. In the process, you may notice small leaves emerging from the side of the bulb while it’s potted. This happens when the bulb forms “pups,” or small bulbs at its sides.

When you repot, you can snap these pups off and put them in small pots to grow them on. In two years, with the right care, they will flower and be identical to the parent bulb. Yes, this is a challenging project, but one I’ve loved doing and that you should experiment with. If you feel comfortable after your first or second try, move on to other colors and varieties of this bulb.

They’re available in single colors and bicolors, including flowers with stripes, variegations and even doubles. Picotee is a variety that has a white flower with a very attractive red outline on the outer edge of the flower petals. You may find that some of the flowers get so large, especially the doubles, that you may need to stake the stems in the pots. Use thin, green bamboo stakes and a figure-eight tie to keep the stem attached to the stake. Amaryllis flowers are not scented and you’ll find some dwarf varieties that may be well-suited to apartments and smaller spaces, but they still need the same lighting regiment.

Some amaryllis are prolific pollen producers. If you or someone in your house is pollen sensitive, you can simply cut off the anthers in the center of the flower and this will remove the pollen. I hate doing this, as it removes the contrast of the yellow pollen. For those short on space, you can also find dwarf varieties. These offerings won’t give you as many colors and flower styles, but they’re just as much fun in smaller sizes.

Keep growing.

Garden Notes

If you’ve ordered lily bulbs, they should have arrived, or will shortly. It’s too late to order, but you may find some at local garden centers. Plant the bulbs as soon as you can and try to get some Bobbex-R animal repellent first. Dip or spray each bulb and let it dry before planting. This is the only repellent that will save your bulbs from deer and rodent damage. No need to add any fertilizer when planting. Larger bulbs get planted 8 inches deep and smaller bulbs only 6 inches deep. Label the spot so you don’t disturb the soil in the spring. High-quality lily bulbs that are hardy in our area will probably flower for two to three years. Don’t plant near other plants that are known to attract scarlet lily beetles, also known as SLBs. This includes fritillaries, hostas (to a lesser extent) and lily of the valley.