Crocus Planting Luncheon!

Has anyone else started their Voodoo Hippeastrum? I did mine, and now have TWO buds coming up!

Good for you!

(and it's 'Zombie' not Voodoo LOL)

(I got mini double white & pink amaryllis bulbs as gifts from Joyanna... mostly didn't tell people the variety name hahaha, but it looks like it'll be a very sweet bloom!)

No I didn't start any of my Amaryllis. Ric picked me up several new pots just the other day and now that all my outside planting is finished I will do the Amaryllis. Sally how long did it take till the bubs formed. I order some bulbs to give as Christmas gifts and I would like to start them but not too early. Ric thinks I should get them potted now and I'm thinking wait another week or two.

Amaryllis bulbs generally take about 7 or 8 weeks to bloom, although some of the bulbs (from South Africa maybe?) will bloom in more like 5 or 6 weeks. I had a few that put up pretty good bloom stems in the bag, and they're blooming now... I think I planted them at most 3 weeks ago.

Joyanna gave away 2 dozen of those cute little bulbs, mostly at her baptism party. They'll look like this: http://www.bloomingbulb.com/p-47250-amaryllis-mini-zombie.aspx

that's beautiful

Oh, voodoo, zombie , LOL. Thanks for the correct name and link. It was showing the tip of the first bud when we were at the party, I potted it about two weeks ago, and now one stem is 8 inches and the second bit of green I thought a leaf, now sure looks like a bud stem too..

A couple my mini amaryllises have more than one stem, also... those bulbs are little, but they are mighty! :-)

you said it, I looked at it again and can't believe the two stems from the 2 inch bulb. I WILL fertilize next year, I WILL fertilize next year, I WILL...

Going strong and beautiful! Two stems, four buds each. It will give me weeks of bloom by the time it's done.

Sally that is so pretty! I just love amaryllis, haven't had one in a long time, the day I got my cast off we stopped at Lowes and they had them on sale along with paperwhites so I picked up a box of each. I planted them in the same pot ( one ameryllis in the center with 4 paperwhites). I made a fence around them with wooden skrews and green jute twine. They always need some support later on. Looking forward to late January blooms.

amaryllis with the paperwhites--never thought of that! Yes I usually have to find supports for the amaryllis foliage

Thanks for sharing that bloom, Sally! I love the double form and that veining, wow.

Neat idea putting them with the paperwhites... even if they don't bloom together, you'll have more foliage in the pot. I often plant 3 bulbs in a bigger pot, but this year most of my new ones went into single pots. I did several 3 & 5 bulb planters though with miniatures (Trentino & Fanfare), and they were really cute... I used ones shaped like little rectangular window boxes and planted them in a row.

I think most of my amaryllises will be blooming after Christmas this year... just didn't get them potted up early enough.

Most of mine will bloom after Christmas, too. They are all comming up nicely. I'm glad that I bought a few extra. I have one Appleblossom Jumbo, 5 Zombie, 5 Bright Sparks and the Zombie Critter gave me from the Crocus Shower. For some reason the Bright Sparks started to grow still in the bag, some actually had a flower of some sort or were getting very close to flowering. I put all 5 of them in one pot. They look pretty nice but I had intended these for a friend that really like red flowers. Oh well she will get some of the Zombies instead.

My Fanfare minis were pretty well sprouted in the bag, also. And I discovered I do have one Zombie bulb -- it's the one that sprouted all sideways before it could be planted and also had a baby bulblet on one side... bit awkward to plant, so I kept it. Looks like the bloom will open soon, so I'll cut if off & put it (upright!) in a vase.

My Amaryllis' are all now in the "resting stage".
I have followed, for years, the instructions on how to deal with Amaryllis either from Allan Summers or this other Guru who puts out a gardening Calendar....can't think of his name just now.

Here is what i do--and i am sure it can use a lot more updated advice as well as from people in the MA that have had successes with other ways.
As it is, by my methods, they seldom bloom before mid March.

1-I bring them in sometimes in late October (supposed to be late August) and take them in my cool, dark basement and stop watering them and ignore them. Pretty soon, al the leaves get yellow and jukky and die off. I pick them off and discard them as this happens. When all the leaves have died off--I am supposed to cut the "necks" of the bulbs back with a sharp knife. This makes it better for the new growth to come through.

2--Now I am supposed to let them "rest" for another month. That is the state they are in right now.
It is time to get going on step #3--but I do not have time right now....

3--This is the time one can re-pot them or freshen up the soil by top-dressing.
It is odd--as almost every other year, when i go to transplant them in totally fresh soil, they have almost NO root systems left. It is like they all shriveled and died off.
Maybe this is due to the long period of dormancy???? Maybe this is NOT a good idea???

4--After all the potting and re-freshing--one is supposed to look for the emerging tip of the bloom and then bring it up
to light and warmth and start watering and all that stuff.....

Last year they almost did not bloom. I had only 2-3 blooms among all the pots.

In the Summer--I keep them outside (and almost out of sight) behind my Northern Sea Oats facing my neighbor's yard. I really do not see them and hardly ever fertilize them. THAT might also be the problem!!

These plants are several years old. Several of them have made off-shoot bulblets.
My biggest pot is 14" across and it has 4-5 big bulbs in it--plus some fledgling bulbs. When ALL these bulbs bloom--it is spectacular.

PLEASE tell me what you all do with yours?
WHEN is the best time to fertilize Amaryllis? With what?
Do you let yours go through all this dormancy stuff? It seems so long they are NOT attended to at all.....

Thanks--Gita

Thanks Gitta, I haven't had amaryllis for years. The few that I did way back when were never kept to rebloom. Several of these pots are going as Christmas gifts but the Zombie Critter gave me and the Bright Sparks that sprouted in the bag will stay. I'm going to ask Vickie and Mom to return their bulbs when they are done so I can try regrowing them next year. Unless they would like to try on their own.
Here is the Bright Sparks.

I think we need another thread for amaryllises... I've got a bunch of fun new (new-to-me) ones budding up now! You can force dormancy to regulate bloom time, or you can just let them do their own thing & bloom when they feel like it. I wrote a pair of articles about planting amaryllises http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/364/ and about caring for them & getting them to bloom again http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/468/.

Critter I was just thinking the same thing. We should do an Amaryllis thread. Sally's picture is nicer than mine maybe she would start one?

Oh, if we just need a pretty photo to start us off... here we go! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/pf.php

Please go to that link to continue our amaryllis discussion (otherwise we won't be able to find the info later, because I don't know about you but I probably wouldn't remember we talked amaryllises on a crocus planting thread).