Short and sweet
Wednesday April 29th 2009, 9:04 pm
Filed under: Amaryllis,Crohn's flare

imgp7546I spent today watching this little Picotee slowly open up.

Quite a few of my older amaryllis bulbs have been blooming with unusually short stems this year, including these two and the budding one lurking behind them.

They’re typically marketed as Christmas presents and bloom around the winter holidays on towering two- to three-foot stalks, their leaves lasting eight months or so.  Then you quit watering them, let them rest for one and a half to three months, start up again and wait for them to rebloom.  Rinse, rest, repeat.

I like to have some in full flower as far into the year as I can, so I stretch out the drying-out periods to stagger the timing; last year I had flowers all the way to the end of May.  Cool!

So. Around the middle of this past December, I did a mass watering of my several dozen older bulbs to get them started, knowing some would respond quickly, some slower.

But I was already three weeks into my Crohn’s flare, and as many know, it got bad fast after that. Carrying heavy pitchers of water around was something that got given up real fast. I worried about killing my bulbs off–one watering in the middle of five months?  But there was not a thing I could do about it.  And they just were not the first thing on anyone else’s mind during those days, as one might well imagine.

Mom eventually planted the ones Dad gave me for my birthday and took on the watering.

My older bulbs could have put all their energy into sheer survival mode, green only.  Some did. But some, with the beginnings of buds already formed inside the bulbs, were determined to bloom the moment it became possible, however  it could be done.

And those are the ones with the short stems now, giving it all they’ve got.imgp7550 A green hummingbird enjoyed them a few days ago.  And suddenly our roses are blooming en masse to celebrate spring too; I almost caught a honeybee in this picture.

Lene? The bulb you gave me a year ago started to send up its first two leaves right away, then they died off in the drought. I started watering it anyway when I could again.  It took it weeks to respond, long enough that I wasn’t sure why I was still trying, but now it’s got two unusually wide, healthy young leaves making up for lost time.

Amaryllises need four leaves producing food for the bulb for them to bloom the next year.

I can wait.

I’ve got all the time in the world now.


18 Comments so far
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We are just like those flowers. Sometimes it gets hard and we go into the safe mode – only do what you must. Sometimes it gets easier and we are in a hurry to do all we can and cram as many things in the 24 hours G-d gave us. And then sometimes life is plain Good. We get to grow big.

Comment by Henya 04.30.09 @ 12:24 am

I like Henya’s sentiment about the amaryllis. You have beautiful flowers and thoughts!

Comment by Laura 04.30.09 @ 3:44 am

S&S most times is a good thing! 🙂
I love the roses! Ours are budding, but won’t open till around Mother’s day..can’t wait. I’m consider rose petal jam…maybe.

Comment by Toni Smoky-Mountains 04.30.09 @ 5:04 am

Time is a wonderful gift. What a shame it is unappreciated by many. I know you see the world through new eyes now!

Comment by Barbara-Kay 04.30.09 @ 5:37 am

That’s right, you’ve got all the time to appreciate them now.
Great to see how well they are coming back in! Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

Comment by Alicia 04.30.09 @ 7:00 am

Your amaryllis are so beautiful and I enjoy seeing pictures of them. Do you purchase the bulbs from a particular company?

Comment by Joansie 04.30.09 @ 7:03 am

Gorgeous blooms!

Comment by Jody M 04.30.09 @ 7:25 am

Do you let the bulbs go dormant in the ground? Or do you take them out? I’ve never found the right way to do it.

Comment by Michelle 04.30.09 @ 7:38 am

I think I may bulbs may be blind this year. Hmmmm. Wondering if I should feed and hope for better after the next rest.

Comment by LynnM 04.30.09 @ 7:45 am

Yeah for time! I’ve been lurking at warp speed lately, but here still here. Just wanted to let you know.

Comment by Ruth 04.30.09 @ 8:41 am

Beautiful flowers. Enjoy!

Comment by Channon 04.30.09 @ 8:50 am

Wow! Such beautiful flowers! Among the things I can’t/don’t do, besides knitting, is gardening. But I certainly enjoy looking at them,even in photographs.

Humor:
There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed a desire to become a “great” writer.

When asked to define “great” he said “I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, wail, howl in pain, desperation, and anger!”

He now works for Microsoft writing error messages.

Comment by Don Meyer 04.30.09 @ 9:30 am

Joansie, I tend to buy my bulbs by size. If you can get them in 30-32 cm, you’re likely to get more flower stalks than the standard 22-24 cm, and they’re more likely to bloom year after year. We have a local Smith and Hawkens store which is a good place to find them, and sometimes I go online to find rarer varieties. The bigger bulbs are pricier, but they so much make up for it.

Comment by AlisonH 04.30.09 @ 10:16 am

Short, sweet, and strong. Just like you. 🙂

Comment by karin 04.30.09 @ 1:51 pm

Isn’t that the best statement: “I’ve got all the time in the world”!!! You do, it’s wonderful, and life truly is good. Enjoy your beautiful flowers.

Comment by Madeline 04.30.09 @ 4:18 pm

I love your flowers :-}
WHen we move (as we will, someday) I want to have a sunny room where I can plant a garden indoors.

Comment by Diana Troldahl 04.30.09 @ 5:42 pm

Those tears I talked about the other day? There they went again and this time for you. Joy, indeed.

Comment by Lene 04.30.09 @ 7:27 pm

Your final line made me smile in gratitude at God’s goodness to let us continue to have you in the world.

Comment by Shirley 05.06.09 @ 7:17 am



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