I'm not a resolution kinda gal. Perhaps a vow to initiate the dormant cycle on my growing collection of amaryllises in September instead of December is a good starting point. After all, they're supposed to be holiday flowers. But I find I'm most in need of flower power in February when holiday magic seems a distant memory and Spring is Winter's indefinite captive. That's what I love about amaryllis. I decide when I want them to flower. I hold the magic wand. But all the abracadabra I can summon won't change the fact that my pot-grown amaryllises are in need of a little attention. Something's Up I rescued a forgotten red lion amaryllis bulb from the top of my work bench a few years ago and potted it up in a cobalt blue pot. Unsure how it would perform, I placed it on the patio with ...
Search Results for: amaryllis
Amaryllis: Forcing For the Holidays
For as long as I can remember, an amaryllis has graced my kitchen windowsill at Christmas time. They're elegant, incredibly easy and, as I learned this summer, full of surprises. Typically I'll buy a bulb in October and plant it in potting mix, or sometimes leave the soil out entirely and allow only the root plate to touch the water in a clear glass vase. Long, strappy leaves emerge like green tongues from the bulb and grow incredibly fast, giving way to a thick stalk that houses the bloom. The south-facing window offers up plenty of light and I get something to look at as I conquer the nightly dishes. Aphrodite bloomed last Christmas. In the past, I've gotten amaryllis bulbs from big box stores for $5. At $15, Aphrodite was a splurge, but so worth it with her pink edged, frilly white ...
Softened Water? A Rain Barrel is a Houseplant Lifesaver in Winter
It's that time of year again when the leaves are changing and the garage begins to look like doomsday preppers live here. My husband complains about it and I anticipated his reaction when he came home a few nights ago to find his garage workbench temporarily "altered." Not only has it been wiped clean and the empty chip bags disposed of, but it now has everything I need to keep my houseplants alive through the winter, namely water. In my experience, especially for a man motivated by food, having a good meal waiting on the day I begin infiltrating his man space is an excellent diversion. I've become a pretty good cook. His basement workshop has been "altered" as well. He's chosen to accept it in the same way he begrudgingly accepts that he'll lose a little turf to my garden each year. In ...
