Amaryllis Challenge 2019?

[Mad Dilys]

When I came back from my hols 2 weeks ago the line of Amaryllis bulbs on my kitchen window ledge sat dry and sulking as they had since 2018.

Suddenly a flower bud popped up opening at the week end with an 8inch flower! It hasn't been watered or had any sort of care and is of course quite lovely.

As it opened after mid summer's day is it included in the 2019 Challenge?

[Horus]

In a nutshell ....... No!

[Grandad]

Spoil sport H
I have totally neglected my two which are standing on the wall below the bank. As they looked frazzled this morning I gave them a drink. I shall now see if anything interesting happens.

[LovelyLadyLux]

My two that sprouted in the garage did get brought in, watered and catered to for a couple days then got tossed Just couldn't be bothered to mess with two tall lanky plants whose bulbs had diminished down to almost nothing plus bringing them in caused the leaves to fall over so out they went.

Will maybe but probably buy another one this fall for the flower at Christmas. Just seems to be the thing I do in the late fall

[Horus]

Grandad don't water them now leave them until around Sept/October

[Mad Dilys]

My plants sitting in their dry pots until they show sign of life - as number one fades number two showed promise yesterday and has a bud up today, three more to go...………..

[Mad Dilys]

I have another amaryllis in bud, sending up two flower stems. Interests me that the two who are robustly flowering for a second season have just been left in their pots without disturbing the roots after they dried off and I didn't cut any of the foliage back until is was brown and dry. I look forward to seeing if other gardeners' bulbs flower or not in the second year.

[Horus]

Mine won't they went into the bin.

[Mad Dilys]

I love it! Previous time I put my 5 plants on a low wall in the garden - went on holiday and returned to find 5 perfect holes in the compost where the snails and slugs had eaten every vestige including the roots.

[LovelyLadyLux]

You definitely MUST have a green thumb @Mad Dilys cause I've never yet had an amaryllis bud out for a second season. I love them but am resigned to not having them flower more than 1 season. As the actual space I have for flowers is somewhat limited I am fine with tossing them vs trying to get them to grow. I'd like to think they'll produce a flower again the following year but ??? No such luck for me.

[Mad Dilys]

All of last years bulbs are now growing, the final two have leaves and buds on

I didn't water any of them until they showed well above the bulb. I didn't disturb two, just let them dry off after the leaves finally died back naturally. Another two had their dried roots cut back and after trimming sat on the remaining soil in the pots. The last one had no trimming of roots and sat in an empty pot.

There has been no difference in the growth how they were treated. They have been watered as they stand, no repotting at all - yup, one is growing nicely in an empty pot!

The flowers have been fantastic! Much bigger than last year and I think more leaves per plant but I haven't checked that yet. I haven't been able to repot as I haven't got enough grip yet, but will liquid feed them now until I can.

I will in future just cut off the dead leaves one by one and leave them in their containers for the dormant period. I saw some really huge bulbs on YouTube when they were cutting them up for propagation. Here's hoping!

[Grandad]

OK, so you are back MD and already reminding us about Amaryllis. I completly ignored my two, they recently grew some leaves which have dried back due to lack of water. I will repot and show then someTLC and maybe the will survive

[LovelyLadyLux]

I ultimately tossed mine cause the bulb just continued to actually shrivel once the flower died. The leaves broke over and when it did flower it was an entirely different flower colour and pattern than I anticipated. That was all ok though and I nursed it along for a while but ultimately tossed it into the bin.

I'll probably get another one this fall when they arrive here in the stores as I do like them as they are just a symbol of Christmas to me (plus a lovely spot of colour in the cold months).

[Ruby Slippers]

I'm still thinking about trying to grow hyacinths for Christmas! Go for it or not?

[Mad Dilys]

What a wonderful idea and just the right time of year to remind us! Nothing smells better than a hyacinth to me.
Many years ago when I had a glassed in porch I used to have the forced (Christmas) ones first, followed by the unforced ones. In a cool place like that the flowers lasted for ages as they are not worried by cold once the flowers have opened but might delay a bit if very cold before the flowers appear. I just potted them all up in September/October and left them to it. After flowering they would go into the garden under the edge of the bushes as the blooms were never as impressive in later years I found. I think most came from Holland and had been heat treated to some extent.
Living here it costs me £13 each way for a taxi (can't do a bus ) to the nearest decent garden centre, so it becomes a special treat. They do excellent coffee and cakes and there are a small group of nice shops very close - right out there in the wilds of Wales. I've been twice this year looking for pink Mandevillas with no success, but that's another obsession for another post. Be warned!

[LovelyLadyLux]

You know Hyacinth might just be the idea for this year. In the past I've potted them and left them outside to bloom in the spring and have never tried one in the house.

Paperwhites are lovely however the couple of times I have tried them they've grown extremely tall and then fell over one if rather dramatic fashion during a meal. It was company and in rather dramatic fashion started to lean and then did a very slow swan dive to the table. Was a great conservation piece during the meal.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I did cruise one of our main stores today having been gone a week and no sign of any fall bulbs there. Was looking to see if I could find a hyacinth but no luck yet although I'm sure all the bulbs for fall planting should be arriving soon.

Amaryllis don't appear until some point in November here so will have to wait 'til I see if there are any NEW varieties been touted or if all varieties being sold are the same as always - Minerva, Red Lion etc.

[Grandad]

My minerva and red lion are in the garabge so I will ee if they show any sign of life.
I did buy a hyacinth kit while shopping last Thursday so it's wait and see with those three bulbs.

[Grandad]

Typos aren creeping in, sorry about that but you get the message

[LovelyLadyLux]

Not only do I type words incorrectly spell checker adds another dimension to it all too!

I might go today to another store that typically has an outside small garden center and will see if they have any Hyacinth bulbs. I saw they had big bulk bags of daffodils in a couple weeks ago and some boxes of tulips but I didn't see anything else. Maybe some hyacinth by now. Need to check.