Amaryllis is the festive flower du jour, as synonymous with midwinter as pine trees and poinsettias.
Amaryllis is perfect for adding understated yuletide sophistication to any room. Place a few cut stems in a tall vase or a single large sculptural bulb with emerging flowers to grace a table or mantelpiece.
The most popular amaryllis colours are the traditional dark, velvety reds, but I like the paler wintry shades for their cool elegance. And, with flowering times from late December through to spring, the blooms are guaranteed to add a dash of glamour and hope to those deep midwinter days.
Cut flower stems are expensive, but amaryllis flowers are easy to grow indoors at home. It's a great winter growing project and the enormous bulbs are quite spectacular in their own right.
With a bit of advance planning you can get amaryllis to bloom in time for Christmas, but if planting bulbs early somehow always slips, an amaryllis bulb also makes a great, sustainable Christmas gift, holding the promise of gorgeous blooms to come.
Forcing bulbs
It's impossible not to be awed by the exotic and unseasonal blooms of forced bulbs at this time of year. The scarcity of winter flowers makes the act of bringing bulbs into bloom early even more magical. And, by nurturing them indoors, it's a fantastic opportunity to admire their unfurling at close quarters.
Forcing bulbs means coaxing flowers into bloom early, or out of season. Most spring bulbs need a period of cold to kickstart the flowering process. With narcissus and hyacinths, this involves tricking the bulbs into thinking it's winter, a process technically known as vernalisation. In layman's terms, it's about mimicking what the bulbs would experience if planted outdoors. On bringing the pots indoors, the upswing in temperature speeds up growth and the bulbs start to produce flowers.
However, amaryllis is a celebration of the warmth and the cosiness of indoors. And, as a tropical bulb originating from Brazil, these are tender plants, and need warmth, not cold, to flower. They require cosseting in our wintertime with a minimum of 10-15 degrees Celsius to start the growing process.
How to plant amaryllis
Enormous amaryllis bulbs, often the size of grapefruit, might seem daunting, but they are oh-so-easy to plant up – it really is as simple as finding the right pot.
You might see bulbs for sale ready-planted, covered with a layer of compost. It's a simple transplant job to move this into a container of your choice – simply brush off the compost and tease out the roots.
Amaryllis do not require large pots – they prefer a tighter fit. For aesthetics, you can top with mosses or other foraged material. It's also a good idea to add in a few willow or birch twigs around the bulb to create a natural support cage for the tall stems.
While this is the more traditional option, you can take a minimal, naked approach by growing amaryllis bulbs in a glass vase to showcase the bulb as well as the flower. Simply take your single bulb and place it into a clear glass vase or container, resting it on just a thin layer of grit or pea shingle. Water sparingly and enjoy the spectacle of the fleshy roots spreading and the shoots emerging. Long, tall, glass containers will also help to support the hollow stems of the flowers which can be prone to flopping.
Some sellers offer bulbs encased in coloured wax, for a different look. These bulbs tend to be a little smaller and need no watering, preparation or planting. They work well placed in a trio, for example, as a table decoration.
How to nurture amaryllis
The secret to growing amaryllis successfully is minimal watering. Particularly if you are growing the bulbs in a container with no drainage. Once the roots are active, the bulbs will take between six to eight weeks to flower. When the shoots have reached about 10cm, move it to a warmer part of the house to encourage flowering.
What to do after my amaryllis has finished flowering?
When the flowers have died down, it might be tempting to treat your bulb as an annual and simply toss it on the compost heap. But the sustainable approach is to keep it and continue nurturing it so your expensive amaryllis bulb will re-flower next year.
The first step is to cut the flowering stem before a seedpod forms, allowing the plant to put its energy back into the bulb. Leave the leaves to continue their job of photosynthesising – if growing in a glass container, you could at this point pot the bulb into compost and leave it in a quiet corner. Let the compost dry out between waterings.
You can move the pots outdoors through the warmer summer months, continuing the watering regime and feeding weekly to keep the foliage growing. By August it's time to stop watering, let the foliage die back and allow the bulb a period of dormancy, before bringing it back indoors in October. At this time, resume watering, but sparingly, and new flower buds should form.
Which amaryllis to choose
An amaryllis bulb makes a great gift – it's a thrill watching the buds emerge and don’t underestimate the enduring fascination of the blooms as they fade.
The botanical name for Amaryllis is hippeastrum. There are many different cultivars with new hybrids being introduced all the time – with names like 'Dynasty', 'Minerva' and 'Temptation' they have no trouble living up to their flamboyant reputation.
The typical trumpet-like flowers usually appear in clusters of three or four blooms atop a round, hollow stem in colours ranging from white through pinks, red and orange. There are double and single cultivars and the cybister varieties have more spidery, open flowers. They range in height from around 45-75cm, so you will almost certainly find one to suit an existing container or vase or fit a particular spot in your house, whether it’s a side table or a centrepiece.
10 of the best amaryllis
Rich red
1. 'Magnum' – these flowers are ruby velvet in colour and texture, perfect for complementing Christmas decorations.
2. 'Black Pearl' – deliciously dark maroon with a brooding velvety texture, the large flowers form atop an extra-long stem.
3. 'Benfica' –bright, pillar box red single flowers guaranteed to cheer up your winter days.
4. 'Hercules' – a shade of carmine pink, really bold and loud.
Pale, white
5. 'Apple Blossom' – delicate, pale pink-flushed white flowers, very reminiscent of spring blossom.
6. 'Matterhorn' – pure white, with a slight flush of lime green at the centre of single-flowered blooms.
7. 'Marilyn' – snow-white double flowers with a delicate flush of pale green at the centre.
Two tone
8. 'La Paz' – a vibrant, spidery-petalled cybister with red and greenish-white petals.
9. 'Charisma' – white and red-coloured flowers with patterning varying slightly with each bloom.
10. 'Dancing Queen' – a loud and flirtatious double, with ra-ra red and white stripes, the blooms are guaranteed to bring brightness and cheer.
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