Amaryllis flowers take every opportunity to show off their stunning beauty and alluring colors. If you have received a bunch of amaryllis flowers as a Christmas gift earlier, you probably wished you could grow them and continue their eternal beauty blossoming in your firm or garden.

Amaryllis care

As it turns out, that's actually a lot easier than you idea. It's true the sheer beauty of the flowers can be intimidating specially for a novice gardener. And for a good reason, since this bulb needs special care and the correct conditions for the blooms to open. However, if you lot keep reading, you'll notice all y'all demand to know well-nigh growing amaryllis lilies, which varieties to choose from, and how to have intendance of them to keep them flowering year after year.

Amaryllis at a Glance

The amaryllis goes all the way back to the early 18th century when the get-go cultivar was developed. It was cultivated from amaryllis belladonna, the South African species with star-like flowers.  A century later, another botanist traveling through Due south America, discovered more species of the amaryllis. Every bit the family grew, involvement in the perennial bulb with its beautiful flowers grew.

The seedling grows all-time in zones viii to 10 and averages annihilation between ane to ii anxiety tall and one foot across. Within eight to 10 weeks from planting the bulb, it will showtime flowering. The flowers grow on summit of a long stem that towers over 25 inches tall. They abound in clusters of between 2 to 12 flowers.

Each funnel-like bloom has half-dozen petals and measures about 4 inches in bore. The petals are arranged in two rows, inner petals, and outer sepals, and they both have the aforementioned size and appearance. The flowers vary in color from purple to white, and pinkish. Sometimes the petals would have more than ane color such as blood-red and white or purple and white.

The bulbs are some of the earliest flowering plants to open. Some varieties first blooming in the mid-wintertime while others expect until the early spring. But commercial growers have found ways to make the amaryllis bloom in the early wintertime in fourth dimension for the holidays. This is why you'll detect the blooms in flower shops ready to be wrapped as a Christmas souvenir.

Amaryllis Varieties

Amaryllis varieties

Since you can't accept too much of a good matter, more species of the amaryllis were discovered over fourth dimension and more than cultivars developed to meet the high need for more varieties. So of course the first thing you need to do is decide on which diversity to grow. Here are some recommendations to start your amaryllis garden.

  • Sweet Nymph: Every bit the suggestive name suggests, this frail flower makes a splash of colors. With a ruby-red background and white stripes, the small petals are shorter than the average amaryllis flower. But because of their relatively long vase-life, these flowers are a good choice to make floral arrangements.
  • Rosalie: An elegant variety that grows mostly indoors. The blooms are near 24 inches and are the centerpiece of any design. They come in one color multifariousness with blushing apricot shades and a light light-green center. Each stem carries near 5 flowers making it a wonderful firm plant to grow.
  • Rilona: This diverseness has apricot flowers but with crimson veins. The intricate arrangement of the petals gives the flower its unique beauty. And although the colors are more than subdued than the average flashy amaryllis, it'due south suitable for many settings and interior designs.
  • Pyjama Party: The proper name says it all here. This is a festive flower that brings a cheerful atmosphere and thus is a good candidate as a gift during the holidays. The patterns on the petals are catchy with cherry shades and pinkish stripes. Originally from Holland, the cultivar grows to about xx inches alpine. A single seedling often produces 3 stems and each stem bears a cluster of well-nigh 5 flowers on boilerplate.
  • Purple Rain: It'due south difficult to tell whether this cultivar was named later on the famous Prince hit, or it was the famous musician who was inspired by the bloom's whimsical dazzler. I matter's for certain, though. The flowers don't take a single shade of purple on them. They're actually pink with magical stripes and blooms that mensurate nearly viii inches on boilerplate. Each stem carries a cluster of half-dozen flowers facing different directions. So wherever you stand opposite the plant, you'll have a bloom staring dorsum at you.

How to Abound Amaryllis

We said earlier that the beauty of the amaryllis tin can be intimidating for a gardener with little to no experience growing bulbs. But while caring for the perennial can be a piddling demanding at times, growing the bulb is actually quite straightforward. Hither's how to start this lovely flowering seedling in easy steps.

  1. Select a big bulb since it will grow many stems and enough of flowers. Smaller bulbs will produce one stem at virtually.
  2. The bulb should be healthy with no mold buildup or scars on the surface.
  3. Option a terracotta container with large drainage holes at the bottom. You lot tin start with a pocket-sized pot that'southward a little wider than the bulb.
  4. Fill the pot halfway with a general-purpose potting mix. Make sure it's sterilized with a loose texture. Mix in organic fabric to ameliorate the drainage.
  5. Place the bulb with the pointy stop confront in the container and add the residuum of the potting mix. Get out the meridian one-third of the seedling exposed.
  6. Water the pot to get the potting mix moist. Don't dislodge the bulb and avoid covering it with the potting mix fully.
  7. Keep the pot on a window sill facing the west or south and gets at least 8 hours of sunlight every day during the growing flavor.
  8. Virtually bulbs volition sprout and start blooming within the next 8 weeks. Some might flower only 6 weeks after planting the bulb while others would have up to 10 weeks to bloom.

Amaryllis Care

Amaryllis care how to

On boilerplate, amaryllis plants need specific temperatures for every season of the year. And while sunlight is essential for the flowering and success of this bulb. Watering and feeding are other aspects of the perennial found's caring that ensure that information technology flowers every year on time.

Soil

Loamy soil is commonly the best for the amaryllis bulb. It allows the roots to grow without much hindrance and doesn't retain h2o. In add-on, loamy soil is naturally rich in nutrients and this bulb needs to grow in fertile soil. If y'all don't have loamy soil, amend your clay soil to make it as close to sandy as possible. Add fibroid sand or perlite to the heavy soil until the texture is loose plenty when you clasp your hand on a fistful of soil. If the soil still turns into a dodder, that means it needs more sand or perlite. Adjust the pH reading of the soil to bring it close to 6.five. Add an inch of lime to increment the pH by 0.v points.

Light

When it comes to sunlight, amaryllis plants need plenty of information technology. But as usual, in that location are no cutting-and-dry rules as to how much lite it needs. It all depends on your zone, how hot and long is the summer, and whether y'all're growing the seedling in the garden or as a houseplant. Outdoors amaryllis normally thrives in indirect bright low-cal. Fractional shade, specially in the afternoon sun, can go a long way into protecting the sensitive found.

As a houseplant, proceed the pot well-nigh a window that gets plenty of full sun but filter the light with a lace drapery. Avoid exposing the plant to direct sunlight during the summer months.

H2o

Once you get the lite conditions just right for the flowering amaryllis, y'all need to turn your attention to the watering habits of the plant. During the spring and summer, the perennial plant needs one inch of water every calendar week including whatever rainfall you get. Watering should be aimed at the base of the plant and not the foliage or flowers. Allow the top couple of inches of the soil to dry out out between irrigations and always water it lightly to get the soil moist not wet.

One more annotation about amaryllis and water. Subsequently the flowers take dropped, cut down on watering and allow the plant to rest. This is important for next season'due south blooms.

Fertilizer

The bulbs of amaryllis require rich soil to grow and flower. Before y'all establish the seedling, make certain to add together ii inches of organic compost or aged manure to every one pes of soil in the garden. If you're growing information technology in a pot, skip the aged manure considering of its unpleasant odors and utilise organic materials instead. One time the bulb takes root and stems grow out of information technology, side-dress the plant with liquid fertilizers at half strength. Before the flower buds emerge, cut down on nitrogen-high fertilizers and switch to phosphorus-rich liquid fertilizers. This will give you big and color-rich blooms. Apply the fertilizer one time every two weeks during the growing seasons. Stop feeding the plant one time the last flower has dropped to set information technology for the fallow season.

Flowering and Wintering

Getting the perennial amaryllis to bloom year afterwards yr is not a done deal. The amount and quality of care you provide the seedling and your gardening skills can exist the divergence betwixt an affluence of flowers that bloom every year and a plant that fails to bloom some seasons.

When the blossom season is over, cutting off all the flower stalks still on the institute. Only encourage the stems and leaves to abound. Robust leaf is important for the flower buds to develop in the coming year.

Before the kickoff frost, bring the outdoor plants inside to protect them against the freezing cold. Cut back the foliage by one-third and go along the bulbs in a sheltered and warm identify throughout the winter.

Pests and Diseases

Amaryllis bulbs are decumbent to the same bugs that assail other firm plants and flowering plants in your garden. Thrips, aphids, mucus gnat larvae, mealybugs, and spider mites are the most common pests and you lot need to get rid of them as soon as yous run into the telltale signs of infestation. The ii nigh constructive ways to eliminate these tiny pests are either spraying the plant with neem oil or rubbing the leaves and stems with a swab soaked in rubbing alcohol.

In the case of amaryllis borer, snail, grasshoppers, and slug infestations, y'all can pick the bugs by hand and drown them in a bucket full of soapy water.

Every bit for diseases, you'll need to exist wary of soft bulb rot and southern bane. Both are caused by waterlogged soil or inadequate watering patterns. Allow the elevation 2 inches of the soil to dry out out before yous water the bulb. Get the water moist but non moisture and give the plant one inch of h2o a week during the bound and summer.