Amaryllis, A short story

29 May

My first experience with Amaryllis bulbs was a gift from a wonderful neighbor November 2019. Blooms emerged January, 2020. It rebloomed April, 2021.

My mother loved all flowers. She had a special fondness for peonies, iris and day lilies of all varieties. She had a Christmas cactus that thrived over decades usually blooming just in time for the holidays. One can never have enough blooms :).

Mom requested an amaryllis bulb for the holidays. I ordered one shipped to her Christmas of 2020. In spite of being carefully watched for signs of life…NOTHING happened. The next time I was home, she instructed me to “take it back”.

I decided to repot. To my wondering eyes, I beheld FIVE bulbs in one pot. There was no room for any of them to grow.

For me the next step was to round up five pots to replant and give all the bulbs their own space. In the months that followed: Two did not thrive, Three grew beautiful foliage….

ONE of the three developed TWO blooms.

God bless Mom and Dad this Memorial Day!

2 Responses to “Amaryllis, A short story”

  1. pimla15 May 29, 2023 at 8:12 am #

    I had an amaryllis given to me once. After it bloomed, I planted the bulb in the back garden. It survived the winter and bloomed again. I now have several planets in that garden that keep coming back year after year. When I relandscaped the area and dug up the bulbs, they were HUGE!

    • time2spring May 29, 2023 at 10:47 am #

      Wonderful story of “generational rebirth”. For Christmas in 2019 I brought a blooming amaryllis home to add a splash of color to our family Christmas gathering. After the bloom was gone, I put the bulb in the ground by my front walk. Now it is an 18 inch diameter burst of red that suddenly appears every April. In my now overgrown front garden bed.

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