Plants
as Gifts
Live
plants make excellent gifts. What indoor gardener wouldn't be
thrilled to receive a potted Azalea, in full bloom, to brighten
up their day, or a boxed Amaryllis that just needs to be planted
before it's on its way to providing a gorgeous floral display?
Potted
Blooming Orchid Plants From Our Own Nursery We have a tremendous selection
of in bloom or soon to bloom Potted Orchids Click here
Potted Azaleas are very popular members
of the Heath Family of plants (Ericaceae). The hybrids that
are commonly grown in greenhouses in northern regions are called
Indian Azaleas. These plants are available in both single and
double-flowered varieties that range in color from white to
rose. Indian Azaleas are native to the southern United States,
but have been adapted as a potted shrub by commercial growers
who condition them to bloom at Christmas of Easter. Although
they will not overwinter in most northern gardens, they can
be kept indoors from year to year with a bit of extra care and
attention.
While blooming Indian Azaleas require ample
water, biweekly applications of acid plant food (available at
most garden centres), a fairly cool spot and abundant light.
After blossoms fall from the plant, Azaleas should be moved
to a bit warmer, but still brightly lit location. The leaves
should be misted regularly and the potting mix kept uniformly
moist. The plants can be set outside, in a shady spot, over
the summer months but should be returned indoors to a cool,
sunny window ledge before fall frosts. The plant will respond
well to pruning of older branches and removal of dead leaves
and stems.
Amaryllis
- The Indoor Bulb
Amaryllis is the common name for Hippeastrum
vittatum. Of tropical origin, these plants grow from bulbs and
produce hollow flower stalks that support clusters of three
or four enormous lilylike flowers. Amaryllis are native to tropical
Brazil but have become popular horticultural novelty plants
in North America because they adapt well to an imposed rest
period or quiescence. Commercial growers encourage their Amaryllis
plants' foliage and roots to die back so that the bulbs can
be harvested and packaged for sale in late fall and early winter.
Dormant Amaryllis can be stored in a cool, dry place for many
weeks, making them well suited to being stacked on store shelves,
or gift wrapped and placed under a Christmas tree.
Amaryllis bulbs can be purchased preplanted
in a plastic or ceramic pot (just add water and watch the flower
stalk grow out from the top of the bulb at an amazing speed).
Slightly less expensive, and requiring a bit more effort on
the recipient's part, Amaryllis kits are available that contain
a bulb, a pot, the potting mix and planting instructions. Once
planted, the bulbs should be kept in a brightly lit location
where the night temperatures are cool. Long, wide, grass-like
leaves will begin to grow from the bulb after the flower stalk
starts to fade.
In their native habitat, Amaryllis are never
found in a quiescent state, but grow continually and always
have new leaves forming as older ones die. Indoor gardeners
can easily keep an Amaryllis growing from year to year. The
plant's long term care should start immediately after its flowers
begin to fade. The flower stalk should be removed and the plant
should be kept in bright light, uniformly moist and fertilized
monthly until spring (this allows the bulb to replenish the
energy it used to form flowers this year and to build up reserves
that will allow it to form new flower initials for next year).
Like Azaleas, a potted Amaryllis can be moved outdoors, for
the summer months, to a partially shaded location. It should
be repotted before it is returned indoors next fall, in a pot
that allows two inches of space between the bulb and the pot
sides. The newly transplanted Amaryllis can then be placed in
a sunny window, but shouldn't be fertilized again until a flower
stalk appear. Then the cycle will repeat itself with the bulb
getting larger each year, eventually producing small daughter
bulbs that can be removed from the parent plant and potted on
their own.
It's also easy to produce Amaryllis seed.
When the flower is completely open, remove one of the flower's
six large stamens and dust the pollen that's on the end of it
(the pollen resembles fine, yellow dust) onto the flower's stigma
which will be in the middle of the blossom and which will have
three, curled back tips that are somewhat sticky to the touch.
If you're successful, the ovary at the base of the petals will
begin to swell within two to three weeks. It will be natural
for the petals to shrivel and fall from the plant, but the swollen
ovary will continue to mature for several weeks until it eventually
turns brown and begins to dry and crack open. There will be
many black, paper thin seeds inside that can be collected and
sown to produce new plants. Seedling can take up to four years
to reach flowering size, so be patient!
