Amaryllis White with red veining in living room (upclose) 27-05-2012 003

Were your ears burning at all Balcony ? Stickitoffee and I were talking about you the other day...or rather your Amaryllis.

After seeing them placed outside in one of Katarina's pictures, we wondered how we should prepare a bulb to put outside here in summer...? We only really see them at Christmas.

I don't do anything special before putting them out only I never put them directly into full sun for a couple of weeks. If you put them in full sun the leaves will suffer "sunburn" & go white before drying up! A little early morning/late evening sun is alright. Other than that precaution there is little more to do.

Just one more thing I've just remembered as a precaution, don't put them anywhere close to Daffodils. At least while they are still growing. This is to avoid the Narcissus Fly which lays its eggs near the base of the bulbs. When its eggs hatch the grubs tunnel inside the bulbs & start to eat their hearts out!

The only thing you notice is that the bulb doesn't seem to be growing. But even that is only possible if, like me, you have other bulbs nearby that haven't been affected & you compare them.

If you are going to put your bulbs outside in the pots they have been growing in while in the house take care they don't get too dry or, much more importantly, that they don't sit in a saucer of water for more than a day or they will rot!

Just a week ago I had to empty all the saucers under all my pots of bulbs, about 50, as they were filled to overflowing with rainwater! I emptied them & then turned them upside down & put the pots back on them. That way they get better drainage than if set on a flat surface. I checked them today & not a one had been blown over in spite of the strong winds & heavy rain we had over the weekend. Here it rained almost continuously all day on Monday but none of my plants had an excess of water this time!

Thats a beauty

Thank you very much Balcony.. I have saved this in my faves and will pass it on to Sticki when she gets back.

Thank you, Clarice. So pleased you like it!

@ Pimpernel: you are welcome & I'm only too pleased to be of any help! :-)) You can always ask me anything you like & I will try to give you the best answer I can, regarding growing plants - I'm afraid that in most other things I'd have to put on a "Dunce's hat"!

Just reread your earlier post, the NATURAL time for these Amaryllis to flower is about the same time as Daffodils. Spring is their natural flowering period. The ones you get in the shops have been "forced" - just like Hyacinths. Don't expect your Amaryllis to flower at Christmas!