Skip to main content

Plant of the week: Amaryllis, a festive, flowering bulb

As winter comes around, many of our lovely plants and flowers are beginning to die off. Often gardeners will spend their winters dreaming of, planning, and preparing for their next season’s garden. However, there’s one flowering bulb that has something to offer as late into winter as January! The amaryllis plant is a bright and brilliant flowering bulb that can bring a bit of spring cheer even in the dead of winter. These plants are often gifted during the holiday season and are a great way to brighten someone’s winter or start their new year with a beautiful red flower.

So how do you care for this plant to ensure it can keep providing you with stunning flowers year after year?

amaryllis flower close up
Image used with permission by copyright holder

What is an amaryllis?

The amaryllis plant is a bulb flower that often blooms sometime in January. The name amaryllis is Greek and is a female name that means “to sparkle” because these flowers appear to sparkle when you see them. The most common colors found in the amaryllis bloom are white and red, but they also can be found in pink, orange, yellow, and even purple. The history of this pretty flower is as old as ancient Greek mythology. According to this mythology, the amaryllis originally comes from a beautiful maiden named Amaryllis’s love for the shepherd, Alteo. It’s also known in history as being associated with strength and determination or success. This might be why they’re often given as gifts after someone has a hard-won achievement.

woman preparing to care for plants
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Care tips for amaryllis

With a little bit of love and care, the amaryllis plant can give you stunning blooms year after year. So whether you received it as a gift or you’re thinking of getting one for yourself, here are the best ways to care for this sparkly flowering plant.

Water

While the amaryllis is growing and blooming, it likes to stay moist. This might mean you’ll have to water it weekly during the winter bloom since the furnace air is dry and will likely dry the plant out more quickly. However, once the plant is finished blooming, you’ll want to spread out waterings and allow the soil to dry out a bit.

Light

These flowering plants love bright indirect light. Find a window sill or tabletop that provides the leaves with bright filtered light to keep this plant happy. You might find that a window with sheer curtains works best.

Food

There are a lot of fertilizers out there, and it can get pretty confusing to know which one to use. However, you can keep it simple by finding an organic fertilizer that is optimized for bulb plants. This will provide the amaryllis with precisely what it needs to grow big, colorful, beautiful blooms.

Temperature

Amaryllis prefer a warmer climate — somewhere between 70 and 75 degrees is best. However, to encourage the plant to go into the dormant period, it needs to be exposed to temperatures around 50 to 55 degrees for a minimum of eight weeks.

Toxicity

The amaryllis plant is toxic to pets and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, excessive drooling, and tremors. It’s also toxic for humans, but most institutions consider it only harmful if large quantities are ingested. Eating an amaryllis bulb might cause nausea, vomiting, salivation, and diarrhea.

Additional care

Sometimes an amaryllis plant might need a bit of extra support with the help of a stick. Additionally, to reduce the risk of falling over, you should turn the pot occasionally so the plant can grow straight. You can also plant it in a deep and heavy pot to ensure the top-heavy plant doesn’t topple over.

Whether you plan on giving this plant as a gift, you’ve received it as a gift, or you found one at your local plant shop, knowing how to properly care for it will allow you to grow and enjoy this plant for years to come. So if you plan to give it as a gift, maybe include care instructions for whoever you’re giving it to. That way, they can enjoy those sparkly flowers and think of you.

Editors' Recommendations

Rebecca Wolken
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rebecca's has written for Bob Villa and a Cincinnati based remodeling company. When she's not writing about home remodeling…
Turn your pothos plant into a hydroponic oasis
How to propagate a golden pothos from cuttings
Hanging pothos plant

Golden pothos brighten up any home garden and they are one of the easiest plants to propagate in either water or soil. Pothos propagation can be done one of two ways -- either hydroponically or in soil. Try both options out to determine which one works best for your space. There are many different types of pothos plants, also known as pipremnum aureum or Devil's Ivy.

This guide for how to propagate pothos works for pretty much all of them. Golden pothos, one of the most common varieties, is characterized by its yellow undertones. It's important to note that leaves in a propagated golden pothos plant may contain less yellow spots than the parent plant. Though losing some color still leaves you with not one but two beautiful plants.
Why you might want to propagate a golden pothos
Whether it's a golden pothos or any other pothos variety, you'll soon find that these plants grow quickly. So even if you're not interested in creating more baby plants, cutting and pruning your pothos is vital to keeping it healthy and managing the amount of space it takes up. Your pothos might be hanging and reaching the floor, or it might be threatening to take over the wall you've been training it to vine over. Either way, cutting off a bit here and there will allow you to grow baby plants and will also encourage the plant to grow bushier and healthier vines.

Read more
Zone 9b planting guide: Everything you need to know about nourishing a garden in this warm climate
The best plants to grow in zone 9b and when to grow them
A happy gardener with gloves

From show-stopping roses to hardy agave, zone 9b is home to plants of all stripes, thanks to its warm, sunny conditions. It’s also an ideal environment for a wide range of fruits and veggies, whether you’re partial to hot peppers or sweet cherries. Its hot summers can be challenging, but it’s generally a productive and lush area for thriving plant life. Here’s your zone 9b planting guide so you can nourish a fruitful and beautiful garden in one of the country's warmest areas.
What is a climate zone?
With climate zones on the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, the United States Department of Agriculture divides the country into 13 regions based on average annual minimum temperature ranges. The temperature ranges go from coldest to hottest as we move from zone 1 to 13. Zone 9b, as you may have already guessed, falls on the warmer parts of the map.

Whenever you buy a plant from a store, look for the label that indicates the "plant hardiness zone." If your zone is within that range, the plant is a perennial in your area, meaning it’ll last more than one growing season there. If not, you’ll have an annual on your hands, which means it probably won't survive more than one growing season in your region.

Read more
Focus on color: The most vibrantly purple plants to add to your garden this season
Want more purple in your garden? Try these gorgeous plants and flowers
A field of lavender flowers

Purple is a popular color when it comes to flowers, and it's easy to see why. With lighter shades that can relax and soothe you, darker shades that add depth, and bright purples that are exciting and cheery, there is a purple flower for any garden. For flower bed layering, purple blooms also provide your garden with bold, yet not-too-overwhelming pops. To find the most beautiful purple plants out there and learn how to care for them, read about our top purple plant picks ahead.

Lavender
We couldn’t write a list of purple plants and not include lavender! Lavender is an incredibly hardy plant that's typically perennial in climate zones 5 through 9. Its delicate purple blooms and calming fragrance are highlights of its appeal, but they aren’t the only ones. Lavender is also an easy plant to take care of. It grows prolifically and is incredibly forgiving with occasional bouts of neglect. It appreciates full sun and well-draining soil for lush expansion across your garden bed. You only need to water it when its soil feels dry—there's not much need to fertilize it, as mixing in compost when you first plant it should be sufficient.

Read more