A NEW AMARYLLIS IN THE HOUSE!

Every few years someone blesses me with a new Amaryllis bulb with planter at Christmas. I'm always pleased because my amaryllis bulbs tend to slowly decline until I just leave them outside and they die of exposure! That's probably not something a gardener should admit, especially on the internet! But, indoor plants are not really my forte. We live in a rather dark, log cabin. We're in the woods as well, so what sun we get is usually to be found in the far reaches of our property. I have a Christmas/Easter Cactus that graces us with blooms each year, but not an overwhelming number. Just enough to let us know that they really DO bloom and they are SO beautiful.

Amaryllis bulbs are the same way. When they bloom, they take your breath away! At any rate, because of that I love it when I get one as a gift.

The last two times I've gotten them, they came with a small disk of dark brown "stuff". It's actually cocoa mulch and is it ever "cool". You put it in a few cups of water and within ten minutes, you've got a pot full of planting medium! It's clean, it's easy and it WORKS! No dirt, smell, grit or mess. Amazing.

(Check out this link for forcing your amaryllis bulb. You may learn something new.)

So, I followed the directions and planted my bulb in the dampened cocoa medium/mulch. It's now sitting on my dining room table growing before my eyes! It appears you can almost see it grow. Each morning we sit down for breakfast and my husband says, "That thing has grown another half inch overnight." And By George, it has! It is painless and joyful gardening. When it blooms, I will rejoice as I always do. Thank you God for Amaryllis bulbs!