Amaryllis Morning

There were a couple of nice surprises waiting for us on our return from Texas and Alabama. First of all, the grandchildren had made us a very nice welcome home poster with balloons to greet us when we walked in the door. Thanks, kids! As we looked around, the house was spotless; we thought our daughter-in-law must have really gone above and beyond. The kids said, "Yes we cleaned", but she laughed and said, "No, you left it this way. I just told the kids not to mess it up."  The truth might be somewhere in the middle; thanks so much for tending to our house!

Then we checked our plants. They all looked great - thanks again, C. The orchid that bloomed just before we left was now in full bloom; and the amaryllis had grown 2 feet. One is in full bloom. See Anticipation.  The blooming amaryllis has 2 blossom stalks. One stalk has 3 blossoms; the other has two. The blossoms are a variagated red/white - just lovely. The second amaryllis is poised to blossom soon - can't yet tell what color it might be. 

The only problem the amaryllis seemed to be having was that they were both too top heavy for their small pots. Without leaning on something, the whole pots just want to tip over. I went to the garage in search of a larger pot that might help them stay upright. Instead of a pot, I spotted 2 plastic tubular containers. I believe they were part of the supplies used in creating the footer for our greenhouse. Concrete containers, maybe? Anyway, they worked perfectly! All I did was carefully drop each amaryllis plant - pot and all - into the tubular containers. Problem solved!

I also checked the internet for amaryllis care directions. They seem to be very happy with their location. All I need do is keep them slightly moist and enjoy. When both the blossoms and leaves have died back, I'll the trim them back to the bulb, and put them away for next winter. I did find, on the web, a beautiful photo story showing the whole amaryllis process from bulb to die back. It's worth checking out. Amaryllis Photo Journal