With their large, showy blooms, Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are a classic choice for gardens or homes. They bring color and cheer to any garden, and they’re also easy to care for! Whether you’re a novice gardener or an experienced one, amaryllis can be a great addition to your garden. Let’s take a look at how to grow and care for these beautiful flowers.

AMARYLLIS (am-a-ril’is) is a family of bulbous plants, which in­cludes Hippeastrums, Belladonnas, Nerines and other well-known and so-called ”Lilies.” They can be distinguished from the true lilies by an almost universal habit of throwing up the naked flower stem after the foliage dies down. Hippeastrums are an exception to this rule. So for purpose of cultivation we can deal with them separately.

Amaryllis Belladona (or ”Bella­ donna Lily”) is the type generally known. There is a bigger and finer genus known as Brunsvigia, closely resembling Belladonnia, but with more flowers to the head 18 to 30 borne cylindrically in pink or white.

The amaryllis, cannot be successfully grown as an outdoor garden plant except in warm climates, such as Florida and California in the United States, South Africa and east Coast of Australia.

Amaryllis Belladona

All these are planted with the neck of the bulb just at soil level. Do not bury it. Ordinary well­ drained garden soil is suitable and an open sunny aspect.

Belladonnas and Brunsvigias can be planted from November to March. Nerines (”Spider Lilies”), including Lycoris, are planted December to April. Brunsvigia Baptisti ( alba or rosea-white or pink), Belladonna rosea and Nerine aurea (golden yel­low), Fothergilli (scarlet spangled gold-splendid), Sarniensis (scarlet), Japonica (red or white), and Bow­ deni (pink), are all good varieties.

Hippeastrums

Hippeastrums (or Giant Lily) are the magnificent members of the family. Large blooms of scarlet, white, red, orange-red, crimson-red, in selfs or striped and marbled in attractive blendings. Individual blooms are from 6 to 8 inches across and carried 3 to 5 on stems. Good soil, deeply dug and well-enriched with ample dairy manure. In the open ground with full sunlight, they should be planted with the neck of bulb showing. Plant December to April to flower in Spring.

Amaryllis (hippeastrum) bulbs absolutely need to go dormant for a while, some individual bulbs exhibit much less of a tendency to go completely dormant, and lose all of their foliage during the rest period, than others.

There a blue amaryllis – “Blue Amaryllis” is Hippeastrum procera from Brazil, a plant rare in the United States. In recent years it has bloomed in the New York Botanical Garden, in Florida, California. The flowers are lavender-blue or violet-blue, and very striking.

Getting Started with Amaryllis

The best way to get started with growing amaryllis is by choosing the right bulbs. You can find these bulbs in nurseries or even online, so it should be fairly easy to find what you need. Choose bulbs that are large and firm – this will ensure that the plants bloom quickly and produce many flowers. Once you have your bulbs, plant them in soil that drains well. Be sure to leave the neck of the bulb exposed above the ground; this will allow the leaves to sprout more easily. Planting your amaryllis in full sun will also encourage more blooms.

Care Of Your Amaryllis Plants

Once your plants are established, you should make sure they get plenty of water but not too much – Amaryllis don’t like wet feet! Try to keep soil moist but not soggy; if the leaves start drooping, this could mean that they’re getting too much water. You should also fertilize every 6-8 weeks during the growing season with a balanced fertilizer.

If your plants grow outside, it is a good practice to heavily mulch the Hippeastrum beds with fairly fresh stable manure in July to stimulate growth. They respond quickly to that generous treatment. Allow 12 to 18 inches between bulbs. Plants may be grown from seed­lings of either Belladonnas or Hippeastrums. Gather when ripe, and sow in a sandy compost seed­ bed, giving an inch of manure topped covering. Sow seeds 1½ inches apart.
Lift after second season to open beds. Many will bloom in second year, giving some surprises.

It is easiest to propagate from an older ‘mother bulb’. Rest young bulbs with mother bulb, and separate at potting time. Plant young bulbs individually in small pots of sandy soil, and give same treatment as older specimen.

They are winter and spring bloomers. The exact time of flowering can be controlled to some extent by varying the temperature in which they are grown, and also by the methods employed to ripen them off in the fall.

If you see any pests such as aphids or spider mites on your plants, use an insecticidal soap spray to get rid of them quickly. Finally, be sure deadhead spent flowers regularly so that new buds can form in their place.

Taking care of amaryllis is fairly simple; just be sure to give them enough sun and water without going overboard! Fertilizing regularly and deadheading spent blooms will help encourage more flowers throughout the season as well as making sure pests stay away from your plants. With just a little bit of effort on your part, amaryllis can be a great addition to any garden.