Waxed Amaryllis Bulbs

Have you seen a waxed Amaryllis bulb before? I hadn't until last month when Jackson & Perkins contacted me and asked to send me something in the mail. When the box arrived I was surprised to find this indoor garden bulb. But I was even more surprised that the bulb was coated in wax.

After placing the bulb in a bright and warm location, the bulb sent out a scape and then showed signs of another emerging scape. Like a normal Amaryllis bulb the scape kept growing until it unfurled and the flower we are all familiar with, and associate with Christmas houseplants, appeared.

My bulb was waxed and painted silver, but on the Jackson & Perkins website you can see that they come in a lot of other decorative colors.

Caring for a waxed Amaryllis bulb

Do you have to plant a waxed Amaryllis? No. As you'll see at the website, the bulbs are held in decorative saucers. The bulbs are waxed so planting them in soil would not result in them sending out roots.

How do you water a waxed Amaryllis?

You don't water these bulbs. Unlike tulips and paperwhites that you may force indoors this time of year, this bulb doesn't require watering. Amaryllis bulbs that you buy have all of the energy they need to bloom one time stored in the bulb. It will bloom even if you don't water it. But because the roots have been removed and the basal plate waxed, there are no roots to absorb water.

After blooming Amaryllis care.

When your waxed bulb has finished blooming, you're suppose to toss it. That's right. It is considered a disposable plant, and requires not further care after it has finished blooming for you.

If you look at the Amaryllis label on my blog, you'll find instructions and tips for caring for a normal Amaryllis bulb. In particular, you should look at the post on pollinating and collecting seeds from your Amaryllis because it is a fun winter and indoor gardening project any gardener can do.

Have you seen these Amaryllis bulbs? Would you treat an Amaryllis like an annual that you can toss? Leave a comment below and you'll be entered into a random drawing for a gift card from Jackson & Perkins.

Amaryllis 'Limona'

I love green flowers, and I covet green Amaryllis blooms in particular. As you may be able to deduce by the name, Amaryllis 'Limona' is a green flowering bulb. The blooms emerge a lovely green with hint of yellow and white.  As the flowers mature they develop a pinkish red blush to them.

Amaryllis 'Fairy Tale'

Amaryllis 'Fairy Tale' is a wonderful miniature Amaryllis. Technically, they're Hippeastrum bulbs, but are commonly known as Amaryllis by people like me who don't want to use the correct name for these tender bulbs.

Amaryllis cybister 'Chico'

I was gifted a bulb labeled as Amaryllis cybister ‘Chico’ this year. As I’ve mentioned before, amaryllis, the name I prefer, is technically incorrect. The proper name for an amaryllis bulb is Hippeastrum. So, the proper name of Amaryllis cybister ‘Chico’ is H. cybister ‘Chico.’ There is some debate online about whether or not H. cybister ‘Chico’ is a hybrid produced by the late Fred Meyer, or just a selected clone of the species H. cybister. Honestly, after reading various websites, forums and blogs-I have no idea.  Each source sways me in a different direction. What I do know is that it is the tiniest and most exotic of all the Hippeastrums I’ve ever grown myself.  I can understand why it is sometimes called a “Spider Amaryllis.”

Amaryllis 'Lemon Lime' Hippeastrum

Hippeastrum, say it out loud, Hippeastrum. What an ugly name for an Amaryllis, right? Hippeastrum is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family. Depending on the source Hippeastrum means either "horseman's star," "knight's star" or "horse's Star". Why? Nobody really knows. What the experts, fancy gardeners and botanists know is that Amaryllis isn't the proper name for these bulbs, and yet we persist on using the name. Maybe it is because the word sounds as beautiful as the blooms look. 'Lemon Lime' is my latest Amaryllis to bloom and it looks remarkably like my 'Mont Blanc,' but greener. 'Lemon Lime' is one of the "green" hybrid Amaryllis bulbs, the coloration and shape of the bloom can vary from bulb to bulb.

Amaryllis 'Charisma' Hippeastrum

I find the tropical bulbs commonly referred to as Amaryllis to be almost the perfect houseplant for any indoor gardener. I can't sing the praises of the Amaryllis enough. Well, technically of the Hippeastrum, but Amaryllis just sounds so much nicer. The inflorescence-flower stalk-emerges from a bulb and puts on a showy display of exotic, colorful flowers. If pollinated, the blooms can produce seeds pods, otherwise the flowers wither and die and are replaced by strappy green leaves. Once you've observed that first bloom, of even the most common Amaryllis bulb, you'll be left wanting more. Over the past few years I've collected several bulbs and my latest is "Charisma."

How To Pot An Amaryllis

(potted Amaryllis bulb)

I purchased an Amaryllis kit at full price instead of waiting until the day after Christmas to buy them when Amaryllis bulbs are discounted 50%-75% off. It feels strange paying full price for an Amaryllis bulb and the cashier practically had to wrestle the money from my hand but in the end I justified the purchase because it would make a blog entry.

Preparing My Amaryllis For Blooming

I'm in the process of bringing in a lot of my houseplants and succulents for the winter. If you read this blog last winter you may remember my experiments with pollinating my Amaryllis and the subsequent Amaryllis seed pods and know that I have one or two of these flowering indoor bulbs around. At the beginning of October I moved my potted Amaryllids onto the porch so they wouldn't get sun or water and make them lose their leaves.

Amaryllis 'Apple Blossom'

This Amaryllis 'Apple Blossom' is currently in bloom in my indoor garden. It's another one of my Amaryllis bulbs that I purchased from a big box store after the Holidays about a year ago. I believe I used the pollen from this bulb in a crossing with an Amaryllis 'Red Lion' last year but I didn't label the seed pods. The metallic sheen on the flowers of this bulb really make it one of my favorite Amaryllis bulbs.

Amaryllis Seed Pod And Seeds

This is an update to my previous garden blog entry on pollinating an Amaryllis. The image above is of a seed pod that split this weekend and the image below it is what the seeds actually look like.

 

Amaryllis Hippeastrum Seed Pods

In the last entry on Amaryllis pollination I promised an update on the developing seed pods of the Minerva I had started to propagate. I hope this photo of the Amaryllis/Hippeastrum seed pods will give you a good idea of what your seed pods should look like if your propagation attempts were successful.

Amaryllis Without A Name

Here's my latest Amaryllis to bloom unfortunately I haven't been able to find a name for it yet. It's a smaller bloom than the others that I have. The scape was about 18 inches tall and the flowers were six inches wide. I tried to cross it with my Amaryllis Minerva but only one pod formed with the pollen that the Minerva donated. I got better results on my Minerva, the pollen from this plant formed two seed pods.
You can see how I crossed them by reading my entry on Amaryllis/Hippeastrum Pollination. I'll update soon with a current photo of the seed pods for these Amaryllis bulbs. They're much larger than they were the last time I posted about them.

Amaryllis Pollination

On my other blog I've been posting little gardening tips and tricks and I originally posted this one there but I figured I'd post it here too for visitors who may be looking for information on propagating their Amaryllis bulbs. I started doing it last year and found it to be very easy to do and now have a few seedlings of crosses that I made. But if you only have one Amaryllis you can still propagate it because many will accept their own pollen. I do it one of two ways:

Who's The Boss?

Ever get the feeling that you're being used. I'm sure I'm not the first person to come to this conclusion but it dawned on me today while posting an entry on propagating an Amaryllis that we're nothing more than insects with opposable thumbs. Plants are in charge.

Amaryllis Minerva-The Wait Is Over!

In this previous entry to my garden blog I posted about waiting on this particular Amaryllis to bloom. Today the wait was finally over as it decided to bloom for me and allowed me to snap a few pictures of it.

Hurry Up, Alredy!

Possibly the worst part, for me at least, about growing Amaryllis bulbs is the time it takes for the flowers to open up. I've been waiting on this particular Amaryllis bulb to unfurl it's flowers for three days now.

Caring For Your Amaryllis

I've been noticing a lot of searches leading people to my blog looking for information on how to care for their Amaryllis bulbs. Based on the nature of the queries that lead to my blog I'll try to answer them from my experience growing these since last year.


I purchased a few Amaryllis bulbs last year from Target after the Holidays. Because of the discounts they were less than two dollars a piece. The bulbs didn't look so great and it was to be expected after sitting in those boxes on a shelf for weeks and who knows how long they were in them sitting in a warehouse. When you bring your Amaryllis home take it out of the box and discard the soil disc it comes in. If the pot it came with doesn't have drainage holes make some or find a suitable pot. Good drainage is key to healthy houseplants. The next step is to plant it in good soil, I added charcoal and Perlite to the regular potting soil I use.

"Why won't my Amaryllis grow?"

Choosing House Plants: By Light Availability

It's tempting to run into a greenhouse and pick up the flowering plants that are set up front as impulse buys-I know I have been there. But when choosing a plant-in particular one that you will grow indoors-you'll find you have better success with houseplants if you buy according to the amount of light you can give your plant. Choosing your plants based on the amount of light you can give will increase the odds that your plant will survive the transition to your home. Here are some light and plant suggestions based on my experience.

Amaryllis-Red Lion

Late this summer I bought my first Amaryllis kit, the box said it was the variety known as "Red Lion". I had always admired them, but I thought they were too high maintenance. Boy was I wrong about these wonderful bulbs. All I did was plant it in the pot it came with and watered it when I figured it needed it.

The leaves were the first to emerge and were followed by the flower spike. I waited an entire week for the bloom to unfold and show me just why Red Lion is such a popular variety. I'm afraid that I may be addicted to these...I already have another "Apple Blossom" that has sent up a spike and hopefully will be flowering soon.

I've read around in various forum that they go clearance after the Holidays in the big box stores. I hope that my local Home Depot has plenty of them left after Christmas because I want a white one next. The only thing I would do different is pot them in a terracotta pot instead of the cheap plastic one they come with.