Recycling Amaryllis Bulbs

January 4, 2007

Are those beautiful Amaryllis flowers fading? What do you do with all the flowering bulbs that brightened your home in December?

Here is a suggestion...give them a decent burial. If you plant them outside in your garden you will have this wonderful surprise at a later time. For narcissus bulbs, they will sprout again next fall or winter and you will, over time, develop a great bed of narcissus. I know, because I am amazed at how mine have sprouted and gradually multiplied. Such a treat this time of year.

I have not yet figured out when or why the amaryllis sprout and bloom. Usually it can be spring or mid summer and I will have giant red blossoms coming up out of nowhere. Years ago I just began digging holes and putting them in the ground on a hit or miss basis and it was such a wonderful surprise when they came up and blossomed.

So...don't just throw them in your yard waste bin. Put them in the ground and see what happens next fall.