There's snow on the ground and change in the air. Pleased as punch I had the foresight to play hooky yesterday. Did absolutely nothing productive. Simply savoring what was likely the last, warm autumn day to be had around these parts.
I keep marveling at our weather. How it's strangely predictable this year. Woke to snowflakes gently falling, and silence, having been abandoned by Bad Dog.
I hear him on the hill, behind our house, barking like crazy... at the thin air. Perhaps in celebration of his favorite season. (He dearly loves to slide down that hill, head first in the snow. No one believes me until they witness it, first hand, but he really does do that!)
And, here I sit... sipping tea in front of a fire with grand plans to turn my house into an Amaryllis warehouse by day's end. I love to grow Amaryllis bulbs ~ highly affordable holiday gifts for friends.
Such big festive flowers. And, ya gotta love a bulb with such hutzpah. She'll sprout in a dark box, without soil, or water, or TLC of any kind.
I began this Amaryllis tradition awhile back, when I was beset by a bad budget. Spotted these bulbs at Walmart for $5 and thought... hey! The bulbs, of course, don't look like much. But my little trick is to plant them 6 weeks before Christmas... delivering, not the bulb, but a pot of dinner plate size flowers inspiring lots of oohs and aahs.
Here's a little trick to make them behave...
~ Plant in super small pots. About an inch or two bigger than the bulb. They'll grow faster and bloom quicker.
Carefully follow these steps to make sure that $5 Walmart bulb isn't dead as a doornail.
- Wait until the shopping aisle is empty.
- Open the box!
You can buy larger, higher quality Amaryllis bulbs from nurseries and they will produce bigger flowers. But, these are affordable. And, they're gorgeous. Therefore I think they'll do the trick.
