Wednesday, March 07, 2012

wfmw - too much hassle?

For Christmas 2010, we bought an amaryllis centerpiece at Costco -- three bulbs planted in a black ceramic rectangle. One of the selling points was supposed to be that the bulbs would bloom year after year. The box promised "after care" instructions.

The flowers bloomed, they died, and I went online to figure out what to do with them so they'd bloom again next year. There were no instructions.

I asked at the nursery where we buy our garden stuff. They have flyers for everything, so I figured they'd know. I did get a flyer, along with advice that it would be a lot easier to just buy new bulbs every year.

I didn't want to buy new bulbs. I didn't even really want the flowers. What I wanted was to see if I could get the ones I already had to flower again.

Christmas 2011 came and went and my bulbs just sat there in their planter. I started to think about getting rid of it and finding something new for the window sill. Then, a couple of weeks ago, little green shoots started peeking up from the tops of the bulbs.

Before too long, we had a jungle of leaves in the kitchen window.



And now we've got a flower.



I'm glad I didn't buy new bulbs and that I gave it a shot.

This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday at We are THAT family and Waste not Wednesday at Jo's Country Junction.

4 comments:

Denise :) said...

Amaryllis have been a tradition in my family for years and years -- since I was a little girl. My mom always let the flower die off. Cut it back, and tucked it into a dark, cool space until it was time to get it out again. When the next year rolled around, she'd pull them all out, give them a toss of fresh potting soil, rehydrate them, and put them in a spot that got plenty of sun. And voila ... re-blooms! :)

Needled Mom said...

They look lovely. I treat mine the same way as Denise stated and they come back year after year.

Teresa said...

Congrats on your reblooming!

janequiltsslowly said...

I have always loved Amaryllis! I bought one this year after Christmas on sale. The gal at the flower shop at our local grocery store said "I've been keeping them cool by keeping them near the door." I brought home my $3.99 bargain, potted it up and now have the second bloom stalk blooming. I got 4 blooms on the first and it looks like I'll have 5 on the second one. A miracle! I'll keep the bulb for next year too.

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