Amaryllis in a Box

I've noticed we're heading into the time of year where we can buy the boxes with an amaryllis in it. Usually comes complete with little white plastic pot - you know what I mean.

Anyway, I'm curious as to what is always available in your area. We, for example, always have an abundance of Red Lion. If you want to find something different, you have to dig through rows and rows of Red Lion. Is Red Lion available in abundance everywhere? If not, what's the one Amaryllis they always have by the hundreds at your nurseries?

Red lion, Apple blossom, Elvas, the same old stuff usually. I have to go to local mom and pop garden centers to find variety.


I'm sorry, BOXED? No Elvas in a box. I was mistaken!



This message was edited Nov 9, 2007 6:37 AM

Wow! I'd be happy to see Elvas in a local store.

I second bsharf!!

And I've never heard of it.

I forgot about Apple Blossom. We have that one here and there frequently between all the Red Lions.

How about the rest of you? What do you have a plethera of in your stores? Same as us?

I've never seen Elvas in a box either. All I see are White or Ludwig Dazzler, Apple Blossom, Picotee, Minerva, and Red Lion. Red Lion are the most common.

And 75% of the boxed kits use those flimsy pots without drainage holes, so in addition to throwing out the peat pellet, I now end up throwing out the pot as well.

Still, I love to hit the grocery stores after the holidays. A few years ago one of the local chains had them and the paperwhite kits marked down to ten cents the day after Christmas. I cleared out the store. The clerk couldn't believe that something was actually ten cents, and went back to the floral section to check. They were fine for bulbs to go into the flowerbed in the spring. (I always open the box to make sure the bulb is in good condition.)

This message was edited Nov 7, 2007 6:08 PM

This message was edited Nov 7, 2007 8:30 PM

I went to a local nursery and she had probably 12 different amaryllis bulbs, colors and varieties I had never seen. You pay a little more for them, they are supposed to be larger than usual also.

Had a question regarding Amaryllis, I know you can keep the bulbs, I also read you could keep them in the house year round?
Any suggestions or tips how to do this?

Basically, just keep it in the house year-round.

As I mentioned above, don't use the plastic pot from the kit if it doesn't have drainage holes, and I suggest using potting mix insteat of the peat pellet. Once it blooms, remove the stalk at the base, and treat it as a houseplant. Give it good light and fertilizer all year. Place the pot outside when it warms up, and bring it inside when it cools down.

Browse the forum for a great deal of advice on the subject. Dormancy is generally not necessary for the type of bulb that comes in the boxed kits.

Elvas in a box?!? I've never seen that! Usually just Apple blossom and Red Lion. Elvas and Picotee were my favorite new ones last year although Picotee was VERY slow to bloom (when I called to say it might be a dud, they said to apply bottom heat and wait a month!)(and it was worth it). This year, I already have plenty so I just got a San Remo from John Scheepers, and some Double Records for friends. Happy planting, everyone!

andidandi,
thanks, sweet, I had no idea you could keep them year round? I just planted about 8 of them and gave them as gifts, I told them to save the bulbs, I'll pass the info on to others:)

See my edited post, I was mistaken. Sorry 'bout that!

Poughkeepsie just about got descended upon, tommyr!

LOL!

I WASN'T mistaken! I DID see Elvas IN A BOX today at Adams Fairacre farms, RT.44 Poughkeepsie. Packaged by the Langville (Sp?) bulb company. I picked up a Scarlet baby since I already have Elvas.

I KNEW I wasn't nuts!

Can we send you back for an Elva run????

All I've seen are red lions and apple blossoms. When ever I've bought them I've been disappointed at their scrawny size. I love big bulbs.

tommyr2006-

Were they priced like the standard kits? The kits are usually about $4. I've never paid less than $12 for an Elvas, and that's without the kit.

I checked out our Home Depot today. They had Red Lion, Mont Blanc, Apple Blossom and a few Minerva. $9.99 each. The nurseries here sell the boxed ones for $14.

I just bought a Red Lion bulb today from Smith & Hawken. They had the Apple Blossoms, too, and another white kind but I wasn't paying attention. I like the Red Lion. This is the first time I backed down to buy one, anyway, so I am not tired of it yet.

Every Fall, I get a catalog of almost exclusively amaryllis gifts from White Flower Farm. They seem to have the most varieties at this time of year. Plenty of variety in flower colors and accompanying pots!

$9.99 may be for nicer packing and pot. The ones that are $4 are not really gift-worthy, in part because they usually have the price on the actual box.

Andi,
$12-$14 for the box.

i bought my elvas in boxed sets the other day in town at martins for $6 each got white christmas too same price they had other kinds also. excellent pots too with vented tops never seen them like that before. the bulbs are 26-28cm in size nice and healthy!!

We have the usual red & Appleblossom. One called Minerva.Then two diferent striped types-pink & white and orange & white. But this year a new one I 've never seen- called violet. You know I bought one!

We have the same mentioned above. I never buy them when they are $10. They were on clearance for $2.47 so I said what the hey! I opened each box and they were nice large firm bulbs. I bought three Amaryllis and the paperwhite kit. The Amaryllis went gangbusters in a hurry and are about 2 feet tall. One is growing slower and the paperwhites don't have any buds yet.

As for the pots, you can take a drill to the bottom or a sharp knife and set them on a pretty plate.

Violet! What's violet?

I second Andidandi

I don't know but the pic on the box was georgous! But it hasn't done a thing yet. While the 'Vera' I bought bare bulb is shooting up double stalks...

Is it a hippeastrum? What store was this? Can you take a picture of the box?

Hard to get a good pic of the shiny box in artificial light! I work at a nursery- that's where I bought it. A mom & pop type place.

Thanks. I thought that it might actually be "violet" purple, which would have been a very big deal. But it's very nice. I never see those in the box kits.

I had never seen one period... But then again we don't usually have much of anything offered around here. The pic turned out more pink than on the box but the blooms-if I ever get any!- will decide it!

I know Target carries them every year in pretty red boxes for Christmas and they start marking them down the day after Christmas. Walmart already had them discounted. I bought Red Lion, Apple Blossom, Minerva and the paperwhites. I just noticed one of the Amaryllis is sending up small side shoots.