Paperwhites and Amaryilis***Christmas Bulbs

This is something I like to do every Christmas. It's an inexpensive way to bring cheer and fresh blooms into the house. I'm sure most of you home-making pros know how to do this, but in case someone does not, I'll just run thru it quickly. The results are so worth it.

PAPERWHITES

First, you have to find them. They are not as common as other bulbs you will see in the fall such as daffodils and tulips, or even hyacinths, but they are around. I got mine at Wal-Mart this year, but I have also purchased at Lowe's, Sam's Club, and Cofer's, our specialty nursery here in town almost always has them.

Find a container.

This year I'm using a floral container/planter that I bought at a flea market. It is shallow, which is OK, but it does not have any drainage holes, so I put gravel in the bottom to create some drainage.

I decided to go for bold and plant 6 in one container for massive impact. I bought 2 packages (6) so I will plant the rest of them successively for continual bloom thru-out January. (Blooms last about a week) You can put as few as 1 in a clay pot it you want to, but I usually put in at least 3. I have had them not bloom very well in the past and that has to do with the quality of the bulb. Buying from Wally, I'm probably taking a chance, but these looked pretty healthy when I took them out of their bags. These are about the size of a golf ball, and they have healthy roots, and no mold on the bulbs.

There they are with some dirt covering them. They really don't need much. Be sure not to over water. Those green tips will straighten out soon now that they have seen the light of day.

In a few weeks I should have something resembling this. Those, I confess, are not mine. I did not do these last year, which I regretted. So I had to steal this good-looking picture to show you the ideal from the WWW. These flowers do have a very distinct scent, so be prepared for that.

AMARYILIS

The last couple of years, I have bought a kit for this. It works out great. For about $5.00 they give you the bulb, the plastic pot, and the planting medium, which is like Jiffy-Pop, except it's dirt. It's a dirt pellet that you add warm water to and it expands into the perfect environment for nurturing your bulb. I've gotten this at Lowe's 2 years in a row and had really good results.

This bulb is about the size of a softball. No kidding, it's large!

I've planted it in it's plastic pot with it's Jiffy-Pop dirt, then disguised the plastic pot with this planter. That green shoot will straighten up in a few days, and also get greener. In about 3 weeks, or in God's good time, I will have something that looks like this.

If you look closely you can see a second shoot coming out. I got about a months worth of bloom out of that plant. They say you can get these to rebloom (not so with paperwhites) but I have not had luck with that, I don't know the trick. The foliage will come back for me, but not the bloom. Not that I keep these things laying around. I throw them out in the bushes, and then I notice I have a plant growing out there, later in the year. But they never rebloom.

Sammy was watching me from the window. Worlds cutest kitten is growing up!