Amaryllis

I bought five amaryllis bulbs at a garage sale about three years ago, and they were planted in the back garden at the house we were renting.  It was a little overgrown and I was pleasantly surprised every now and then to find a beautiful bloom.  When I dug them up to move over to our new place I discovered they had multiplied and I now had about 15 bulbs!   I gave them pride of place all along the edge of the bed, and as the leaves would flop around I would keep telling hubby (and remind myself)  that the flowers were beautiful, and worth putting up with the yellowing floppy leaves for the rest of the year.

  I would trim back the leaves, and occasionally wonder when these silly things do flower.  By the time I discovered that they would commonly flower in spring it was already well into summer, and we had not had one inkling of a flower!  
Maybe they needed more sunlight?  I moved some across into the garden outside the bedroom window, and eventually moved some bromeliads surrounding them.  These would support the leaves I thought.  All the information on the net talks about putting them into a pot and voila they would flower - what on earth was I doing wrong, I wondered?  I noticed others flowering around town, aha....... mine have to be doing something soon - you would think - wouldnt you?

then I read something that distressed me no end - you have to stop watering them to force them to flower!  Well, my gosh, it never stops raining here, so how am I to stop watering them?  A bulb is now going to be placed into a pot and put on the verandah where the rain cant reach it.

Crafty hey!
watch this space.... I am sure I will have amaryllis flowers soon....

Comments

  1. BernieHMon Sep 20, 08:40:00 AM

    I've had such trouble getting my Amaryllis to bloom as well ... they're all potted and they've never ever even come close to looking as if they going to bloom. Maybe I've haven't kept them dry enough! I'll be watching eagerly to see if yours does flower. Keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete
  2. africanaussieMon Sep 20, 10:41:00 AM

    Bernie, that is interesting (although you look as though you dont have any trouble at all with getting plants to bloom! even bulbs! What an inspiration you are!) Maybe there has just been too much rain! When mine did flower it was a dry season and in an area that never got watered.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BernieHMon Sep 20, 06:24:00 PM

    Huh ... I think I'll have to publicise more of my gardening failures because I've certainly had lots of them. As for the Ams ... they've always been in pots and I've obviously been over-watering ... I don't have anywhere to plant them out so I might just re-pot and let them dry out for a while! Thanks for the tip.

    ReplyDelete
  4. FloridagirlTue Sep 21, 06:09:00 AM

    Here in Central Florida, amaryllis blooms pop up like crazy in spring. But we have what we call an annual spring drought here, so perhaps that's why. The young bulbs don't bloom, though. Only the oldest, largest bulbs throw off flowers. Looks like that's not an issue with yours. Oh, and yes, they do need a lot of sun for best bloom.

    ReplyDelete
  5. africanaussieTue Sep 21, 08:00:00 AM

    Floridagirl,
    Oh yes the sun! - well that has been obscured by clouds forever.... On the radio this morning I heard them say that this month we have already had more than twice the average rainfall for September, and it is still only the 21st.

    ReplyDelete

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