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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Forcing Amaryllis Bulbs

By December, most of my gardening activity and yard work has ceased, and my attention turns toward preparing for the Christmas holiday. One of my traditions is forcing Amaryllis bulbs to bloom off-season. Amaryllis bulbs are easy to force indoors, grow very fast, and produce multiple bodacious blooms per bulb. The stems grow right before your eyes (adding half an inch in height a day), and then the flowers unfurl in succession for an ongoing dramatic display. The whole process takes four to six weeks. The flowers are large and showy, and colors range from deep red, to white, with many colors and patterns in between. Forced Amaryllis bulbs make a great decoration for Christmas, or gift for someone special. Kids enjoy watching them grow.
Hippeastrum spp are in the Amaryllidaceae family, and originated in the tropical and subtropical areas of South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. They are typically marketed as Amaryllis around the holidays, with names like “Red Lion,” “Minerva,” and “White Giant. They are different from Amaryllis spp that originated in South Africa.




Amaryllis is a monocot, and perennial. The bulb is tunicate (a papery tunic protects the bulb from drying out) and 3 – 5 inches wide; the leaves are linear and glossy; the stem is a hollow tube; the inflorescence is an umbel (with three or more short flower stalks, or pedicels, originating from a common point), and sheathed in a bract at the origin. Each flower has six petals formed in a trumpet, with multiple stamens of different lengths, and a single, longer stigma. Propagation is by seed or bulb division.

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