amarylis
Mike Kenzie
I have 2 amarylis. One I found in the basement when I moved into the new
house, had white leaves starting in December, I moved it to a window and
now it has several green leaves but no flowers. The second I kept on the
balcony last year and finally in November forced it into dormancy. It
finally started to show life and has put up 2 flower stalks, one of which
now has 6 large flowers on it! It is just now starting to put up leaves.
Do amarylis normally flower before putting up leaves?
Is there a way to induce flowering once the leaves are up?
Have a similar problem with the tulips I found at the new house all leaves
and no flowers
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Mike
>Is there a way to induce flowering once the leaves are up?
Amaryllis flowers before putting up leaves
once the leaves are up your amaryllis won't bloom that year
at least this is what mine do (planted in my yard)
Guy Bradley
>
>...
> Do amarylis normally flower before putting up leaves?
Yes
> Is there a way to induce flowering once the leaves are up?
Not that I know of.
What happens is that the plant stores energy, produced of course by
leaves, then goes dormant. The flower is the result of all this energy,
then more leaves are produced to start the cycle again.
I have been advised to put the plants when then go dormant (or you can
cut off the leaves and force them to dormancy) in a cool place and don't
water. As time passes, they will eventually start to grow. Then you can
bring into a warmer, brighter place and start watering. I did this with
about a dozen of them this winter and they all bloomed, although
curiously they bloomed over about a three month period. In fact, the
last two are in bloom right now!
Guy Bradley
St. Louis MO
zone 6
Dan Sterner
wrote:
>Do amarylis normally flower before putting up leaves?
It depends on the variety. I have a Red Lion that I've had for two years
now, it has always put up both at the same time, though I've been told
that's unusual. It's flowering now for the second time this year, still
has the first set of leaves.
>Is there a way to induce flowering once the leaves are up?
Not that I know of, it depends on the bulb... if it has the energy and
right conditions it will flower, if not give it plenty of sun and feed it
to build the bulb back up. That's a good reason to never force dormancy,
the longer the leaves stay on the plant and green the more time the bulb
has to gain size and energy.
Mike
I've only seen them bloom first and then send up leaves. They look funny in
the garden with just their flower stalks and these huge blooms. I like to
buy them after Xmas when they're cheap and then plant them in the garden
that spring. I just wish they would get some new colors at Xmas. I bought
a peach colored one once at Park's Seed Co but husband put shovel through
bulb. It lived but took awhile to recover. (but I did get 2 the hard way)
David E. Ross
>
> >Do amarylis normally flower before putting up leaves?
>
> once the leaves are up your amaryllis won't bloom that year
> at least this is what mine do (planted in my yard)
This is true of Amaryllis belladonna, commonly known as 'Naked Lady'
because it has flowers without leaves.
However, what is commonly called amaryllis is Hippeastrum, which is
often evergreen. Hippeastrum thus has flowers when it already has
leaves.
See my <http://www.vcnet.com/~rossde/garden_hippeastrum.html> for
details on the differences between A. belladonna and Hippeastrum and on
the care of the latter.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 19 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence
Gardening pages at <http://www.vcnet.com/~rossde/garden.html>