Two of the four blooms are almost open.  It won’t be long now.

Your postings are inspiring me…to feel guilty again about ditching my bulb after the blooms are dead!

I’ve never heard of anyone treating one of these, or a paperwhite, as a houseplant and successfully getting it to bloom again.  I thought a cooling period was necessary for a rebloom.

Someone emailed me asking for directions, so here’s what my gardening books say about keeping an amaryllis bulb and getting it to bloom in later years:

Cut the old flowers from the stem, and after the stem starts to sag, cut the stem back to the top of the bulb.  Continue to water and fertilize it for at least 5-6 months, allowing the leaves to develop and grow.  In early fall, when the leaves start to yellow, cut the leaves back to about 2″ from the top of the bulb and remove the bulb from the soil.  Clean the bulb and place it in a 40-50 degree F dark place, like the crisper of your refrigerator for at least 6 weeks.  (Don’t store bulbs in a refrigerator that contains apples, as this will sterlize the bulbs!)  After 6 weeks, plant the bulbs and in 8 weeks or so they should bloom again.

Arrgghh!  Too much work!  I’d rather just enjoy the flowers, then get rid of the bulb and look forward to next year’s Christmas present!

Plus, I don’t think there’s EVER a time our refrigerator doesn’t contain apples!