Amaryllis, a Supreme Romance

Once upon a time there was a young boy in Moldova, who fell in love with Hippeastrum. It was a day in early April, his 10th birthday, when his great-grandfather visited again. He brought a gift, the original ‘Mont Blanc’ - majestic, taller than Vlad, with two pristine white and glistening blooms. Its couple of thin, long and dark green leaves completed the picture. Vlad was already in love with plants, especially bulb plants, and he had two other Amaryllises at home: the famous heirloom ‘Salmon Pearl’, likely a H. striatum hybrid, and the ever-popular ‘Red Lion’, in his favorite color: bright red. Since Red Lion was in bloom, I took Mont Blanc’s pollen and put it on Red Lion’s stigma, a lesson I had in my biology class earlier that week. About two months later, a thick capsule full of black papery seeds opened, so I decided to plant them immediately. To my biggest surprise, some weeks later there were over 50 young plants, happily growing on my parents terrace. Yes, this is how I fell in love with Hippeastrum (Amaryllis), it was love at first sight, there was no escape.

After so many years, I can truly say that Hippeastrum is still my favorite plant. Simply because it is so impressive, it grows problem free, it has nice decorative leaves and gorgeous blooms that come in all possible sizes, forms and color patterns. Since this Friday we opened the Amaryllis season, I would love to give you a couple of recommendations.

If you are looking for a double, ‘Aphrodite’ is a classic that has been around for decades. It’s one of those hybrids that will probably be always in production, simply because it’s very resilient, top performer and of outstanding beauty. Personally, the doubles are not something I go for, but this is one of the few doubles I simply adore. Also, the 1st double I have ever grown, a gift from one of my mother’s old friends, she was a biology professor.

If you are looking for something with big blooms, make sure to check out ‘Lemon Grandise’. When I tell you it has huge blooms, I really mean it, sometimes at over 25 cm in diameter:

Oh and by the way, her sister ‘Red Cream’ (earlier called ‘Red Queen’, a name which hopefully can be reclaimed soon), has the same huge blooms and the best part? Her perfect Christmas red blooms, I mean just look at her:

Talking about reds, would you like something more exotic, let’s say a cybister type? You know, those hybrids with thinner petals that scream at us, saying “You know I am very special, more wild and full of passion”? Well, here is our novelty for this season ‘Red Amazone’ - the perfect red cybister. I would say it’s even more impressive than the old school ‘Bogota’ we all know and love. I have grown this hybrid for 2 consecutive seasons and I confirm it is an outstanding performer.

What about the comebacks? We have a few of those popular varieties that we could not offer for a season or two, but finally they made it back in our offering. My favorite? You guessed it right: H. papilio, with its always mysterious face:

There are so many other exotic varieties I could recommend to you, for example ‘Mystica’, ‘Emerald’ or simply ‘Exotic Nymph’ - they all know how to brighten our dull winter days that are yet to come. Make sure to scroll through our assortment and in case you are not sure, just send us an email and I will happily help you further.

In case you want to make gifts to your loved ones, check out our mix of 5 bulbs. You get a little bit of everything: a double, something exotic, a classic, a new variety and something with big blooms. By the way, we restocked the famous Amaryllis vase too and we are happy we can offer it to you again.

Because I love Amaryllis so much, I will likely come back with a story or two later in the season, so stay tuned. For now, I will stop here and I will go back to our store, to make it even better for you all. Best part? It’s so much fun to finally do this and I have the best team to keep my back, ever. Fluwel is my family now and you are part of it, too. 

Yours forever,

Vlad

P.s. Totally forgot, if you like the whites, make sure to check ‘Moscow’ - it has the most perfectly round shaped white blooms or ‘Polar Belle’, with its super full white, lotus-like blooms. Or, if you prefer the dark reds, my all time favorite is ‘Grand Diva’, a true diva in all aspects. The darkest, however, is ‘Mandela’ - only for the real fans!