Amaryllis plants are one of the most popular of all Christmas flowers, with good reason!

These beautiful flowers, native to South America, are of the genus Hippeastrum, and grow from a large bulb. Each plant can grow to a height of up to approximately 3 feet, with huge, lavish, tropical-look trumpet shaped blooms.

Red, white, and variations of those colors are the favorite for Christmas flowers, but Amaryllis bulbs are available in a very wide range of gorgeous colors and bi-colors.

Amaryllis are extremely easy and rewarding to grow because they always produce such magnificent results!

If you want to have Amaryllis blooming indoors for the Christmas holidays, you should start watering the bulbs around 8 weeks beforehand.

When you purchase a pre-potted Amaryllis, it will usually come with a pot without holes, a pot with drainage holes, potting soil mix, and the bulb itself.

If you buy the bulb by itself, without a planting pot, then choose a pot that has a diameter of about 2” wider than the bulb at its thickest part.

When you pot the bulb, do not cover it completely! You want to leave about half or one third of the bulb out of the potting mix. Supposedly, you should make sure that you plant the bulb right side up, but experts disagree on whether this makes a difference or not.

Don’t over water an Amaryllis bulb, or it may rot, but do keep the soil moist at all times during its active growing period.

Don’t fertilize your Amaryllis until new green leaves appear.

Keep the Amaryllis in a room temperature of approximately 65-70 degrees while it is actively growing.

The Amaryllis bulbs or bulbs with potting kits usually found at garden centers and retail stores are pre-programmed to bloom in about 8 weeks after they are potted and watering has begun.

However, unlike some bulbs, Amaryllis do not require a period of dormancy and you can keep your plant growing year round if desired.

It can be forced into bloom at almost any time provided that it has had a long enough growing period (normally 6-7 months) and put into dormancy by either storing it in a cool 40-45 degree room or withholding water.

If you live in a warm enough climate zone, you can plant and grow Amaryllis bulbs outside with great success!

You can keep your Amaryllis bulbs and force Christmas blooms from year to year. An Amaryllis bulb can live and bloom for up to 75 years!

Wowza!

That is a fantastic return on a very minimal investment, as Amaryllis can usually be purchased for between $5-$10.

Pots of gorgeous blooming Amaryllis make perfect Christmas flowers, and will lend grace, elegance and beauty to your holiday home!