By Tovah Martin
The weather might be brutal outdoors, but don’t worry, you have bodacious blossoms at your bidding.
Amaryllises make amends. Despite all the histrionics happening outdoors—and no matter that the forecast foreshadows further bone-chilling temperatures combined with weather-related dire straits for the foreseeable future—your view is warm, cozy, and heavenly. Framing whatever depth of white the latest blizzard has dumped outdoors, a windowsill is blossoming blithely away. Oversized blooms are yawning in sumptuous shades while another stem of flowers promises to continue this bliss for many weeks into the future. Amaryllises come to the rescue. Look to these four ways amaryllises brighten the winter season, and order our Winter 2018 Issue for more wonderful features, style ideas, and more!
1. The flower produces large blossoms.
Although the dormant season can be a tough interlude for anyone who tends the soil, gardeners long ago discovered that the secret solution for winter is South American bulbs. When Hippeastrum (which is how amaryllises are currently botanically classified) were first introduced into Europe in the late 1600s, they received the glad hand for good reason. The blossoms of the original amaryllises were only a fraction of the size that current iterations achieve, but still, they promised to provide the antidote for winter blues. And fueled by the efforts of breeders, they have been pumping out flowers of impressively increased size ever since. Encounter an amaryllis in winter, and you instantly forget whatever is happening on the far side of the windowpanes. Amaryllises make your interior glow.
2. Amaryllises are starbursts of color.
An amaryllis flower is memorable. Each bloom is an artistic masterpiece of magnificent color in the white, cream, peach, pink, and red realms. The reds range from glistening cherry to darkest burgundy. White and cream have been part of the amaryllis repertoire for a long time, but newer varieties add a touch of chartreuse to the brew. Streaks of various shades are often part of the drama. And each petal is thick, waxy, and glistening to catch the light as it pours through whichever window is hosting your display. For an apt analogy, think sparkling butterflies defined in a blossom.
3. Each stem offers multiple wide blossoms that unfold into a large display.
But there’s more because amaryllises do not limit their performance to a single flower. Each bulb typically forms a truss of blossoms that looks like a series of trumpets facing various directions, so each stem can balance three, four, or more blossoms. In fact, an amaryllis’s only fault is that the blossom spires can sometimes become so top-heavy that they topple from the burden of their massive flowers. The many-petaled double versions are particularly heavily laden with pizzazz. It might be wise to give them supports early in their career. And the beat goes on because more stems are often in the wake, prolonging the perks for months. Amaryllises are also ideal for beginners. No green thumb necessary, the cultivation of these wintertime mainstays is blithely effortless. Literally, just pop a bulb into the soil, and it will pick up the performance from there without coaxing. The bulbs prefer to sit just below the soil surface in a shallow container.
4. They bloom beautifully from the windowsill.
A sunny window often fosters compact stems, vigorous performance, and most fervent color, but indirect light from an east- or west-facing window usually works fine. Amaryllises also favor slightly dry soil rather than being soaked, which fits beautifully with most indoor gardeners’ busy lives. And that is all they require. For very little effort, sublime splendor can be yours. Amaryllises transform your windowsill into a winter garden.
Check out our Winter 2018 Issue for more features, style tips, and home tours!
