First bloom of the season
Wednesday December 24th 2008, 6:26 pm
Filed under: Amaryllis

Antarctic amaryllis varietyMy dad sent me a box of amaryllis bulbs (thank you, Dad!) and told me to open it at my birthday and not wait for Christmas; you never know what might already be sprouting in there in the nice warm house.

When an amaryllis thinks it’s time to bloom, it does what it can to make the world beautiful whether it’s been planted in soil and given the water it needs or not.  Go!  Tall stalks are nice to have, but the flowers are what its life is all about.

I opened the box and this Antarctic one had buds almost ready to burst out of a stalk whose shape was curved by the restricting protective netting around it.

flowering pear Christmas EveFlowers in the color of the snow we miss and that blossomed the day before Christmas Eve. Glorious.

Rudolph tree

Meantime, having shown you my “Part ridge in a pear tree” awhile back, I thought I’d show you what it looks like now.  The tree continues to recover well.  In this climate, it lets its leaves go after New Year’s–not till it’s finished doing its Rudolph impersonation.

Merry Christmas to all, a happy Festival of Lights, and the peace and joy of the season to you and yours.


16 Comments so far
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Merry Christmas Alison. I have so enjoyed your blog this year. So many times it has made my day. The early amaryllis is beautiful – just a precursor of what is to come.

Comment by rebecca jc 12.24.08 @ 7:59 pm

Have a wonderful holiday – we all share a lighting of the darkness in the middle of the dark and you have helped to light the way….

Comment by Afton 12.24.08 @ 8:10 pm

Merry Christmas! I hope you day is filled with wonder and joy.

Comment by Michelle 12.24.08 @ 8:32 pm

Merry Christmas!

Comment by Ruth 12.24.08 @ 11:53 pm

Merry Christmas to you, too! Thank you for sharing so many beautiful, moving stories. And your father’s amaryllis is a gift to us all.

Comment by LynnM 12.25.08 @ 1:31 am

The flower is beautiful. Merry Christmas to you.

Comment by sherry in idaho 12.25.08 @ 8:36 am

Merry Christmas, Alison!

Comment by Amy 12.25.08 @ 8:47 am

Merry Christmas! May there be lots of joy and good food in your house.

Comment by Lene 12.25.08 @ 11:45 am

p.s. you can have some of our snow. 😉

Comment by Lene 12.25.08 @ 11:45 am

The flowers have perfect timing — merry Christmas!

Comment by Jocelyn 12.25.08 @ 12:48 pm

Merry Christmas! That’s a beautiful California white Christmas…

Comment by Channon 12.25.08 @ 7:34 pm

Merry Christmas, Alison. Guess what Santa left under the tree for me?? Mrs. Claus must be a shawl knitter! (haha!) I’m going to make so much from this book, the patterns are truly gorgeous!

Comment by sunflowerfairy 12.25.08 @ 7:48 pm

Merry Christmas My Bulb is only about 6″ so it looks like I will have January flowers!

Comment by grace 12.25.08 @ 8:14 pm

Merry Christmas, Alison!!

Comment by karin 12.26.08 @ 7:50 am

The blooms are glorious indeed! What beautiful leaf color, a delight in comparison to our leafless ones. 🙂 Enjoy. Merry Christmas to you!

Comment by Toni Smoky-Mountains 12.26.08 @ 6:46 pm

Happy Belated B-day Alison! Just before we reconnected, I had been just thinking about you, your birthday and my daughter’s too. Do you remember the time we sat together at a ward party divided by birthday months. You sat with our daughter and told the story of getting earrings from your brothers — one earring for your birthday present and the other for your Christmas present!! I’ve told that story 10s of times:) So happy to be reconnected:)

Comment by Maija-Liisa 12.31.08 @ 7:11 am



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