A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Amaryllis Help Me!!

I just bought an Amaryllis growing kit for a friend. I want to mail it to her.
However, it already has a stalk. Is it okay to ship it like this or can/should I cut the stalk off?
Thank you in advance!

If you cut the (flower) stalk off, your friend won't get a flower this year! Ship it as it is, but in a box large enough to allow for more growth in transit (lots of styro-pookies for packing material), but keep in mind that shipping live plants at this time of year can be risky because of the chance of freezing in the back of a truck as it travels across the country!
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/amaryllis.html

Or on their porch when the drivers just leave it there until the recipient notices they got a package...
Although, maybe if you put enough of those packing peanuts in, it may insulate it just a bit, never thought about that????? ?????
But probably not enough, if it's heading towards a colder growing zone????
My two cents worth??

Weezie

P/S Hi Thene, Welcome to The Garden Helper!!!!
We are very glad you found us!!!!

I have one too I got a couple months ago at Wal-Mart. Was cheap so I snatched it up!! Apple Blossom--it has had 3 blossoms opened and only one left to go now. Does it only bloom one time per year?? What do I do once the blooms are gone?? It was one of those kits!! hehehe I have enjoyed it!! Now I am very interested in getting other kinds--maybe, if they flower more than once??!!

Bonnie

Bonnie,
Go up to Bill's post, and click on the
red lettering with the words,
the gardenhelper.com on it.....
Towards the end there's some tips to what
to do to them after they're done flowering....

Kinda along the lines of a dahlia or gladiola bulb....

Weezie

Thanks--that DOES help!! I did not know that you do this with Dahlias and Glads too! My glads are still in the gorund outside and the Dahlia I had this year is too. I finally cut some of the stalk. Was waiting for seeds but still don't see any and it is frost every night now so--whack!! hehehe The leaves and stalks for most of the glads fell off long ago now. I cut the rest last weekend when I finally cut my Elephant Ears down and covered for the Winter. I HATED that!! Still might dig at least one of them up to see if I have new bulbets on there yet.

With being in a different growing zone than I am,
do you leave your dahlia's and glad's in the ground? or pull them up and store them???

That's what we would do up here is store them for the glad's, after they flower, clip the stems off, and let the stalk die back a bit, putting it's energy back into the bulb.
Then in the spring, put them back in some dirt and start to water again...
The dahlia's we have to let the frost hit them once and then pull them out of the ground and store them..

Weezie

Yeah--many bulbs that you have to dig up in the northern zones we can get away with leaving in the ground--in some locations. Mine are in full sun locations and well draining so they are fine. (Or if not, I will know come spring when they do not flower again!! hehehe But the horticulturist around here say it is fine. I can even leave my Elephant Ears in--just had to cut them down and mulch with pine needles though! I HATED that!!) Do Hollyhocks and Malvas stay Everygreen in NY?? Mine are still green and my 'Zebrina' Malva is still flowering (we are having heavy frosts every night now too!! Boy am I shocked!! hehehe)

The only thing that stays ever green here in WNY is the EVERGREENS, under several feet of snow
by the end of winter...

Although, I do have one plant, the is so wierd.
I even thought I'd killed it somehow as to where I put it and wouldn't make it thru the winter..

My neighbor gave me some Arum italicum ...*they look something like a Jack~in~the~pulpit, the big leaves, the hooded flower part and big seeds on one stalk that turn colors...

Well, I planted it next to my house which is a different zone than all the rest of my gardening, everything dies back up here but I can over winter a dahlia outside, but it's by the South side of my house, raised bed, mulched HEAVILY, it's got a cement walkway by it and a furnace and hot water tank with a stone basement wall..
Keeps it just enough alive to over winter and pansy's and tulips have a hard time surviving, actually pansy's won't, because it's too hot there..
Anyhow, I planted the ARUM there and they are bulbs like, and the leaves started coming up in the Fall time, and I thought for sure, because it was so warm there, I'd screwed up and they were thinking it's spring... the leaves were this awesome green color and it was snowing and frosting and cold and I was feeling their pain...
the leaves got tattered and soon, the snow was so high, I couldn't see it anymore...*we shovel snow where they're kept, cause it's the only place to throw it..
Anyhow, come spring, those darn leaves were pokin' their darn fool leaves out of the snow and I was like, oh, the snow insultated them but now the January thaws and winds are going to get them...
Well, come spring they were really tattered and torn looking and a flower stalk and hood came up like the j~i~t~p did, and then a somer really cold nights and days came over and I thought it that nothing happened to it, cause the hood collasped and nothing flowered...

Again, thought it would pass out from all it's abuse..
well that flower stalk/hood thing started producing a green berry like and then it started to turn orange in the summer time, I kept thinkin' I had it in the wrong place because it shouldn't be there. *I thought it was too hot for it and that's why it turned orange.

But come to find out, that's the nature of the plant here, it works just fine and it's done that for about 5 or 6 years now....

Weezie

Amaryllis are CRAZYGONUTS growers!!! I had a bulb 2 weeks ago, and now i have two 18 inch stalks with 5 beautiful red flowers on them growing from the bulb! All i did was stick it in some soil that had a very large amount of slow release fertalizer in it o.O Then i watered it once every other day, and it just grew! i had to put it on the window, cuz it was growing so big next to my fishtank! No leaves though *shrugs* but its so pretty ^.^

~Phoebe