How to grow an amaryllis indoors
No winter flower gives more for less effort. Plant the bulb with its top third above the compost in a pot only a few centimetres wider than the bulb, water once, and stand it somewhere bright and warm. Water sparingly until the flower stem is away, then keep the compost just moist, and 6 to 10 weeks after planting the trumpets open. Bulbs planted in early November flower around Christmas; a supersize bulb planted now carries the show into January and February, usually on multiple stems.
Choosing your amaryllis
For the classic Christmas look, go red: 'Ruby Star' is the full-volume traditional trumpet, while 'Mandela' and 'Black Pearl' take the reds almost to black. For elegance, choose the red-rimmed white 'Picotee' or the pink-striped 'Glee' and 'Gervase'. Double-flowered forms like creamy 'Marilyn' and 'Cherry Nymph' read like winter peonies. And for something nobody else will have, the lime-green 'Magic Green' and the spidery, orchid-like 'Rose Cybister' are the collector's picks.
Amaryllis as Christmas gifts
Our boxed amaryllis come from Taylors Bulbs, the Lincolnshire bulb specialists established in 1919, with the bulb, a pot and compost packed in a gift-ready box. There is no better present for a beginner: nothing to buy, nothing to know, and a towering flower a few weeks later. Find them alongside the rest of our Christmas gifts and the full Christmas shop.
After the flowers
Do not throw the bulb away. Cut the spent stem at the base, keep the strap leaves growing and fed through spring and summer, then rest the bulb cool and dry for 8 to 10 weeks in late summer and repot. A well-treated amaryllis flowers for many years and the bulb gets bigger, and so does the show.
