As the Halloween decorations go back into storage, it’s about that time to deck the halls again. Home Garden and Homestead shared some ideas to make this holiday season festive and bright with blooming Amaryllis flowers that you grow yourself—even if you’ve never grown anything before. While amaryllis can be tricky because their flowers are huge and showy, American Meadows and Jackson & Perkins have made it simple with new bulb kits, which contain everything you need to grow flowering bulbs indoors.
The Red Lion Amaryllis Kit includes an Amaryllis bulb, a decorative copper-colored pot, no-fuss growing medium and full instructions. Sweetly wrapped in a burlap gift bag and finished with a red satin bow, the growing kit features huge Amaryllis the size of grapefruit—not the little lemon-sized bulbs for sale at discount and big-box stores. The bulbs produce large deep-red flowers that are the perfect color for Christmas. Just start watering the bulbs and watch them sprout green leaves and then stunning red flowers. In full bloom the Amaryllis plants are 20-24 inches tall.
Another great choice is a Waxed Amaryllis Bulb. These bulbs are coated in decorative wax, making them pretty from the bottom up, so there is no need for a container. Everything these flowers need to grow is inside the wax. You don’t even need to add water. Huge tropical blooms will emerge within weeks of arrival, and all you have to do is watch the show unfold. This is the perfect gift for your friend who loves flowers but can’t seem to keep plants alive. Bulbs are available in five different colors of decorative wax: red glitter, copper glitter, metallic copper, red snow and metallic gold.
