Sunday, December 16, 2007

Amaryllis & Paperwhites

I know it is only about the middle of December, but in one short month I will have spring fever. Yes, it’s true, by the middle of January I will be dreaming of warm days and sunshine.

There is that period in January before I can buy some of the spring blooming bulb gardens that I need something to keep me going. For that I turn to the amaryllis and paperwhites. I used to just pot them up and let them grow and bloom. While there is nothing wrong with that, I now create more of what I call a winter garden. I will take a low dish or container (make sure it has a hole in the bottom for drainage) and plant ivy and ferns in it with a few paperwhite or amaryllis bulbs mixed in. It is far more interesting to have other plants mixed in when they bloom. In the case of the paperwhites, once they are done blooming, I pull them out and tuck in a blooming azalea or cyclamen to help get me through those long winter days.

If you need more information the amaryllis click here.
For the paperwhites,click here.