Only the shadow knows
Monday May 17th 2010, 9:52 am
Filed under: Amaryllis,Wildlife

A new character showed up in the neighborhood with a stylish zorro streak on its other cheek and reverse eyeshadows– half circles of white right above its eyes, fluffing out to  make it look bug-eyed head-on. The wicked witch of the nest: I’m moulting! MOULTING!

And the other thing: I had the Red virus pass through about a third of my amaryllis patch last year, probably in part due to their lack of care while I was ill. One is supposed to throw away such bulbs quickly so that bugs and the wind don’t spread the disease.  I was in no shape, having had my belly unzipped twice, to go lifting any pots, nor did I particularly want to. Besides, there were memories in those flowers and I stubbornly wanted to give them every chance at hope.

Nearly all recovered and they show no signs of the virus now. From everything I’ve read, that wasn’t supposed to happen, I was risking losing the lot of them. But yet again, my amaryllises present a metaphor for what I went through as they look peachy-fine now anyway.

This is my prized Dancing Queen (yeah, I need to go clear away the old stuff). It may be a fairly small bud for this variety, but hey! I can’t wait to show it blooming.

And life continues on in its quiet, unspoken strength.


4 Comments so far
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Go, Dancing Queen! Oh – and both of my non-blooming amaryllises did produce four or more leaves, so I’m hoping they’ll bloom this winter…

Comment by Channon 05.17.10 @ 10:27 am

A new neighbor….word is getting around that the place to go is at “Alison’s”.

As for the amaryllises, the determination to do well……..same as the caretaker. :>)

Comment by Joansie 05.17.10 @ 10:48 am

I like to believe that the humor I’ve been sending helped you heal. Do you suppose that had a positive effect on your amaryllis?

Humor –

The paper bag was in terrible pain, so it went to see a doctor. “I’m afraid your condition is incurable,” said the physician. “Oh, no!” the bag yelled. “How did I catch this?” “It’s genetic,” explained the doctor,” “your grandfather was a carrier.

Comment by Don Meyer 05.17.10 @ 5:13 pm

Yep, I’ve always believed the same thing about you and the amaryllises!

Comment by karin maag-tanchak 05.17.10 @ 6:23 pm



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