I am a complete gardening novice and have inherited a house plant from my parents after they recently passed away, It is a pot with 5 x bulbs packed tightly which seem to thrive in dry condition because even with a small amount of watering some of the leaves yellow and wilt, I would dearly like to ensure its survival but have no idea what it is called or how to look after it, the only advice I have been given is to re-pot it when the flowers have died back, but into what ? and with what type of soil ?, It is flowering at the moment as the attached photos show. Any advice would be appreciated. Regards
It looks like you have some Amaryllis. My bulbs died before I was able to bring them back a second year but I'm sure someone here will give you some good advice. I was always told NOT to cut off the leaves if they were still green, not cutting them until they naturally die down gives food and energy to the bulbs for the next flowering.
This is what i have done with mine. They are in a pot but in my case outside. They have died back for the year now and they also say to feed the bulbs (I do this for all my bulbs in pots] after flowering so they can put the good stuff away for next year. I use bone meal (blood and bone) I donot water mine very much once they have died back but this my not be correct for those kept inside. I think the page following is for northen hemisphere http://www.amaryllis.com/pac.htm Liz
There are pics on both web pages to show difference. I now realise I have both. The true Amaryllis is out currently in our autumn. It lives out in the garden. It is even on the road side around here probably from tossed out rubbish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippeastrum Hippeastrum is a genus of about 70-75 species and 600+ hybrids and cultivars of bulbous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas from Argentina north to Mexico and the Caribbean. Some species are grown for their large showy flowers. These plants are popularly but erroneously known as Amaryllis, an African genus in the same family. ++++++++++++++++++++++ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaryllis Amaryllis is a monotypic (only one species) genus of plant also known as the Belladonna Lily or naked ladies. The single species, Amaryllis belladonna, a native of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest region near the Cape. It is often confused with the Hippeastrum, a flowering bulb commonly sold for blooming indoors. Tony bit of extra info. Thanks for upgrading my info on these plants. Liz
