This week I went with my parents to the botanical building in Balboa park. It is always fun to see the lush display of plants that change throughout the year. In once entrance they had Amaryllis. What is the plural of that amaryllises amarylli? Anyway they were gorgeous but it was a bit embarrassing because my son broke off one of the stems with the flowers. I am guessing that might be one of the reasons why mine look like this.
In many parts of the country this is considered a flower associated with Christmas. It is however forced to bloom at that time and largely blooms in the spring like most bulbs. Really though it is a spring flower. This plant is native to South Africa. Southern California has a similar climate and we can grow many of the same things (think Birds of Paradise (Heliconia), Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile), and Arctotis (African daisy). These bulbs have been established for some time and have no irrigation. Regardless, they actually look fairly decent. I may plant some more of these in other parts of the yard due to this fact alone.
