Amaryllis

There are many ways to make your home more inviting for the holidays, including the usual Christmas lights, trees, wreaths and ornaments. However, if you gardeners want to really dazzle your guests this year, show them a display of bold and beautiful amaryllis blooms.

Amaryllis is a plant that grows naturally in the tropical regions of Africa and South America. However, you won’t have to tromp through the jungle to acquire bulbs for the occasion. Simply start watching for them now in department stores and garden centers. Local stores usually start stocking the bulbs in the fall. Pick them up right away and get planting them, because they take 6-7 weeks to push out their fabulous blooms.

The large blooms, which can reach 6”-8” wide, sit atop a tall leafless stem. The blooms will last throughout the holidays and may even re-bloom in years to come. They come in a variety of colors including white, pink, a robust red and a combination thereof. You can plant a single amaryllis in a pot; however they will make a much bigger splash if plant several pots of amaryllis and group them on a table or stand.

Amaryllis is one of the easier bulbs to force to bloom. The bulbs arrive in the stores “pre-chilled,” which means they’ve received the cold period required to initiate stem growth. Most of these bulbs come in their own pot ready to plant. If not, simply follow these steps:
1.Place the bulb in a flower pot (with good drainage) that is one and a half times larger than the bulb. Amaryllis like to be pot bound, so don’t worry if it looks crowded. Pack a potting mix around and up the sides of the bulb to within a couple of inches of the neck of the bulb.
2.Water the bulb well initially, then let it dry out slightly. Water sparingly until you see stems appear. As the buds and leaves appear, increase your watering. After it starts to bloom, keep the medium relatively moist.
3.Place the pot(s) in direct sunlight in a warm room and wait for them to bloom.
Like the proverbial tea pot, if you watch it, it will never boil, or bloom, in this case. Over the next few weeks your amaryllis will send up long pointed leaves, but then you’ll wonder if it will ever flower! It will, just be patient and keep watering as suggested above. When it does bloom it will do so with a bang, producing a large, beautiful bloom (or two or three); hopefully, just in time for the holidays.

The nice thing about amaryllis is you can get a repeat bloom from them the following year. Unlike poinsettias, which quite frankly, can be kind of a pain to force the following year, amaryllis are fairly simple to get to re-bloom the following year. After you’ve enjoyed your blooms and they’ve started to fade, usually shortly after New Years, follow these steps to get it to re-bloom the next year:

1.When you see the leaves start to sag and yellow, clip off the flower, flower stems and the long leaves, leaving about two inches of foliage above the neck of the bulb.

2.Water and fertilize throughout the summer. The leaves will grow back, which in turn feeds the bulb. This can be done inside or outside. If planting outdoors, you can leave the bulb in the pot, which will discourage insects and critters. However, don’t place them out in the spring before the last frost date and get them inside before the first frost in the fall.

3.By early fall the leaves will start to yellow. At this time, trim the leaves off the bulb, clean up the bulb and place it in the crisper of your refrigerator or a cool cellar. The bulb will have an extensive root system at this time. Leave in the fridge for at least six weeks. Don’t water during this time period.

4. When ready, replant the bulb following the instructions above and you should get another show for your guests.
Having spelled out the methods above to get them to re-bloom, I should add that some years they may fail to re-bloom. As long as the bulb is still firm, don’t give up on it. You may need to repeat steps 1-3 above. If the bulb gets mushy and you see the tiny fungus gnats hovering around it, it is time to toss it into the compost pile.

Amaryllis was originally discovered in South Africa and South America. The correct genus name is Hippeastrum. They can grow for 75 years in the wild. The type we purchase in the stores are hybrids. Amaryllis’ have been around since ancient times. Reference to amaryllis is found in the writings of ancient Greece along side such heroic figures as Apollo and Hercules.

Look for amaryllis in your local stores (for about $8 a piece) or you can order them off the internet at Park Seed and White Flower Farm.

Frugal Gardening

In these tough economic times we can't afford to waste money, whether it be stocking the refrigerator with food or purchasing garden products, such as tools, mulch and seed.

Here are five timely tips to make the most of your garden store purchases. You can get many more hot tips to save money gardening by purchasing my ebooklet: Store to Garden: 101 Ways to Make the Most of Garden Store Purchases. Purchase directly from Scribd at http://tinyurl.com/ylk4lzn.

1. Know your hardiness zone. Most plants don't do well in zones lower that what the plant is rated for. And by the time you realize the $50 plant you bought won't make it, the one-year money back guarantee will have expired.

2. Purchase roses that are potted in a loose potting mix, rather than the shrink-wrapped kind sitting on a shelf in a department store as if they were another widget.

3. Use a long reaching water wand to water near the base of your favorite plants. This will not only conserve water but reduce the possibility of spreading fungal diseases.

4. Start composting right away. Finished compost is called black gold. Need I say more. Compost helps with water and nutrient retention. See my tips booklet before deciding what compost bin to purchase.

5. If you're still mowing a lawn, raise the mower deck on your lawnmower. By growing the turf a little taller, you actually cut down on the use of fertilizers and herbicides by encouraging better photosynthesis and leave blade development.

Brussels Sprouts

Perhaps it wasn't the best garden season for warm season crops, like tomatoes and cucumbers. But it sure seemed to be a good one for cool season crops. One crop that did exceptionally well in my garden was my Jade Cross Brussels Sprouts, from Stokes Seeds. I direct seeded these in the spring and then thinned them out about three weeks after they germinated. The thinned out plants ended up in new rows. I kept the weeds down and lightly fed them with a 12-12-12 fertilizer. I plucked the large leaves off some of the plants, some I left on. It didn't seem to make a difference as far as the eventual size of the sprouts. I started harvesting the Brussels sprouts in my zone 4 garden in late October, with the last harvested on November 11th. I found it easiest to cut off the stalks, leaving the sprouts to be picked later when I brought them up to the house. By the way, Brussels sprouts can take a pretty hard frost right up until the snow flies, in fact. Brussels sprouts, when steamed, are high in vitamin C and contain antioxidants which may protect against breast, prostate and colon cancer.


Neil Moran is a horticulture instructor and the author of North Country Gardening: Simple Secrets to Successful Northern Gardening and a recently published ebook titled: Store to Garden: 101 Ways to Make the Most of Garden Store Purchases. Visit his website at www.neilmoran.com.

Birds in our Backyard

Head to www.neilmoran.com and click on EUP Gardening for a link to the latest edition of Connie Thompson's bird watching newsletter: Birds in Our Backyards. The newsletter is a collection of musings and sightings of birds in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula. This is the only place you'll find the newsletter in its entirety. Connie does a wonderful job with this newsletter. She has quite a following, not only in our backyard here in the EUP, but for birders everywhere who have an interest in what is happening in this area. One of the big draws to this area for birders is the spring migration at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. There is a lot happening at the observatory, including bird banding, special programs on birds, etc.

Pumpkin Harvest

Gardening can be a lot of work. The payoff is good healthy food to eat. Gardening can be a lot of fun too, though. Especially when my grandson is helping me in the garden.

Lady Slippers

I went for a walk in the rain yesterday looking for the elusive lady's slippers. I heard the seed heads can be found in the fall. I would like to try to propagate them, though I've been told it may be difficult due to unique soil needs. But first, I need to find the seed!

Chemicals!

I can't stand chemicals. But like a bad habit they can be hard to quit. I used a 2-4D product yesterday to get a leg up on weeds in a lawn. Bad idea! My nose ran and head ached. How can anyone use this crap over a long period of time if I can't even tolerate a single application? I've been reading up on natural lawn care and believe I've got the idea of how this works. Takes more time up front, but no chemical expenditures or exposure problems down the road. I'm going "drug" free from now on.