Expert: Laura Walker - 11/17/2004

Question
Hello Laura,
About 2 weeks ago I planted an amaryllis bulb in hopes for blooms near the holidays. I followed the planting instructions and have it in a sunny spot. I'm wondering how long before I can expect to see any growth from the bulb at all. (My paperwhites, planted the same day, are growing like gangbusters.)
Concerned,
Shelley Stoker

Answer
Shelley,
I am in a rush but have I got a story for you on the Amaryllis bulb.It may take me a little while to type it,but I think you will get a kick out of it.Just for curiosity,where do you live?I promise to write you back as soon as I get back from taking my son to the dentist.


Ok,I'm back.Sorry about that.

Shelley,
I am wondering the same thing! I am beginning to think I got a bad bulb.I bought it at Wal Mart,which I usually never buy bulbs there.I always mail order mine for me and all of my customers.But it was an impulse buy and I expected in at least 2 weeks to see some sort of growth!I first put it in front of a window,then thought after a week of nothing that maybe I should put it under my plant lights.Still nothing.Then I thought maybe I could shock it into growth by temperature changing,so I put it outside on my porch.The weather has not dipped below freezing here so I knew it
wouldn't kill it.Yesterday I brought it back in and sat it under plant lights again.So far I have had it about 4 weeks and nothing is happening whatsoever.
So I am also playing the waiting game as I have become so accustomed too now since I began gardening 20 years ago
when I started off gung ho into the perennial wonders of the universe.When I saw my first Tulip,I was hooked BIG. Now I plant hundreds of Tulips and other spring bulbs every fall for my customers and myself.But since the Amaryllis is not
cold hardy and I thought you couldn't leave them in the ground anywhere above Alabama,I just ignored them.Then I
had a customer that had this huge mystery plant that was given to her one year that she planted under some back stairs that led to an upstairs apartment  and she had no idea what it was.She said the flowers are huge and beautiful.
I just saw the foliage at that time and it was just the green leaf "blades" or "fans".I kept trying to guess and she kept saying No,that wasn't it and so on.I was very curious of course.So anyway she wanted me to dig them up and move them to a better location.I dug them up and they were HUGE bulbs.The biggest I have ever seen.I was really curious then and took her several of my extensive array of plant catalogs to see if she could identify it.She picked out a photo of an Amaryllis!
I was quite surprised and asked again how long they had been coming up and she said several years.By this time I am very skeptical about an Amaryllis,which gardeners call "the Tulip of the South",because you can't grow Tulips very well in the South,there has to be a long dormant cold period for Tulips to bloom successfully in the Southern states and an Amaryllis has no problem because they don't need a cold period,but they sure as heck can't be over wintered in zone 6,Western Kentucky where I live.I have never heard of such.I told her to call me when they bloomed,and boy what a shocker!
They were indeed Amaryllis,and GORGEOUS ones at that.Pale peachy pink and white sort of striped. I have photos of
them if you would like to see them.You can give me your email address.
Well,sorry if I got off the path a bit,but that story just shows how unpredictable bulbs can be.Especially in the middle states.If mine doesn't bloom I may try putting it outdoors,or even if it does I am going to experiment.That's what gardening is all about.
Please let me know when and if yours blooms and I will do the same for you.We are both playing the waiting game now.HA!


Hey Shelley!
Well guess what?My Amaryllis is finally growing!I was disgusted with it and so about a week ago I put it back in the box it came in from WalMart and sat it on the kitchen table with plans to return it as it was and replace it with a fresh one.So anyway I openened the box a few days ago just out of curiousity and low and behold the thing had started a new green shoot!I sat it on my stove under a light and it seems to be growing fine.It sort of looks fat like it might open soon.Wierd huh? How is yours doing?