2021 Christmas Amaryllis Bulbs Selected - November 2021

One of the first 'moments' that kicks off the holiday season each year for me is the annual purchase and planting of Amaryllis bulbs (or what my kids call: "Christmas Flowers").  Normally, I buy a couple of varieties - some from big box stores and some from Wannamaker's.  This past weekend, I was at Home Depot and found what you normally find at big box stores:  Amaryllis kits.  That's a bulb, a little pot and a disc of 'soil' that expands when you add water.  I don't love those - especially since it seemed that when I opened the boxes for the kits, I noticed that the stalks had already emerged from the bulb, but due to being in the dark they were white(ish).  But, right next to the kits was a bin of bare bulbs - both Paper-whites and Amaryllis.  The Amaryllis bulbs were $7.99 - about half of what I normally pay for a high quality bulb.  I grabbed three of them.  And a low, wide clay container to plant all three.  Those three are all the same variety - that you can see below - named: Red Lion. These look to be all red - with no variegation/white stripes.  

We also brought home a couple of larger, higher quality bulbs from the Wannamaker's annual Christmas Open House.  These are $15.99 - about double the Home Depot ones - but are larger and I've had great success with them over the years.  First, the Bird picked one out - this greenish one called Lemon Star. You can see the label below.  This one would bring some springtime vibes to our kitchen during the Winter when it blooms.

And, we also brought home another larger bulb called Sunshine Nymph.  You can see the tag below and will easily see why we were drawn to it:  it is a double flowering version that is almost melon in color.  Some sites describe this one with: "Vibrant coral flowers detailed with pink undertones and white stripes". 

I mentioned above that I'm going to plant the trio of bulbs from Home Depot in a low container.  My plan for the other ones are to plant them individually in their own pots - mostly because it gives the kids who plant them a sense of 'ownership'.  

We've done these Christmas Flowers with Amaryllis bulbs every year for the past number of years.  Last year, despite COVID, we managed to get just ONE bulb - a waxed bulb from Trader Joe's.  During Christmas 2019/Winter 2020, we did four bulbs.  In 2018, we did just one bulb from Wannamaker's - our first Nymph Amaryllis.  In 2017, we did a side-by-side comparison (Big Box vs. high quality).  

This year - with five bulbs - will be the most we've planted as part of this annual tradition.  I'll post some photos of each of the bulbs when we get them planted up in their containers.  As I've done in the past, I'll poison them with a mix of vodka to keep the stalks from getting too leggy.