Dazed_Lily
01-28-2006, 06:01 PM
I saw this article in the paper today, I will try to scan the photo, of this sweet lady and her amaryllis in bloom, on Monday but here is the full story. This bulb has bloomed since 1918(and probably even earlier!):
Wichita Eagle by Annie Calovich
Wanted: more plants that grow themselves
People sometimes feel compelled to make certain horticulturally related confessions to me. The most common one: "I have a black thumb."
I don't particularly like to hear the admission. By it, the person places himself on another plane, either relinquishing guilt ("I can't help it") or taking on all guilt ("I'm really a bad person") and leaving me feeling that I have the burden of keeping all plants alive because I have a "green thumb."
My response always goes back to retired extension agent Norman Warminski's definition of a green thumb: Treating a plant like a living thing. That means acknowledging that it needs certain basic things -- water, light -- to stay alive. If you treat a plant like it's already dead, believe me, it will die.
Usually.
Then there are some plants that seem to defy their very nature and keep growing no matter how little or how much care they receive, and no matter how haphazardly.
Such is the case of Alene Gentry's amaryllis. After carting photos of its salmon blooms around to the hairdresser and the doctor and who knows who else, she gave in to their urgings and finally brought the photos of the amaryllis to me.
"Someone gave it to Aunt Mabel, who died in 1918, and then Grandma got it. She was about 13 years old," Alene told me one sunny afternoon this week. The photos showed a healthy-looking plant in bloom, something the amaryllis did for years in December but recently has been putting off until January.
"I water it every Wednesday," Alene said -- unless she doesn't. After her grandmother died, and when her mother was taking care of her grandfather, the plant sometimes went three months without water, Alene said.
Those who know the by-the-book instructions for an amaryllis know that a dormant period of a couple of months is advised for the bulb. But Alene's mother probably didn't know it. And other aspects of its care probably do not fit the dormancy rules -- a dim spot, cool conditions.
"It's on an oval table my grandmother gave me," Alene said, completing the heirloom picture. She never moves it.
"Grandma had hers on the north. Mama had hers on the south. I have it up again at the north," she said.
Alene never wanted to repot the plant, but "my daughter-in-law had the nerve to do it," taking an offset bulb from the amaryllis in 2003. It bloomed the first year she planted it. She must have some green thumb!
"I don't know who'll get it next," Alene says of the mother plant. "I'm 73."
Most plants don't ask as much of us as we think they do. It's not like we have to have some kind of artistic talent, as if we're creating a bloom from nothing. If we wouldn't mind getting our thumbs black -- i.e., actually sticking them in the soil now and then to see how dry a plant is -- then we could keep things green easily enough, usually.
Alene never varies her routine, and the thing blooms.
I found some information about amaryllis and longevity on the Web site www.icangarden.com(how about that for encouragement!). It says that amaryllis bulbs can last for many years:
"Each year the bulb will become larger and the number of flower stalks and flowers per stalk will increase. In addition, mature bulbs will produce offsets or small bulbs alongside the original bulb.
"The offsets can be separated from the main bulb. Take a few roots along with the offset and pot it in a peat mix in the smallest plastic pot that it will fit into comfortably. Place it in your sunniest indoor window or in light shade outside if it is warm enough. Keep the soil moist and fertilize it regularly if you are using a peat mix. Repot the offset only when it is utterly pot-bound. Let it go dormant in the fall for six to eight weeks, as you do with any amaryllis.
"Lots of sun, a tight pot, and a proper dormant period are the keys to getting your offset up to blooming size. This may take a few years, so be patient. Before long you will have so many amaryllis plants that you will be able to give them away as wonderful holiday gifts."
Alene has never needed such a long-winded explanation to keep her ancestral amaryllis going. She's inspired in me a new saying to pass along to gardeners, the results of which may vary according to the color of their thumbs, or, given Alene's luck, maybe not:
May you live as long as your amaryllis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wichita Eagle by Annie Calovich
Wanted: more plants that grow themselves
People sometimes feel compelled to make certain horticulturally related confessions to me. The most common one: "I have a black thumb."
I don't particularly like to hear the admission. By it, the person places himself on another plane, either relinquishing guilt ("I can't help it") or taking on all guilt ("I'm really a bad person") and leaving me feeling that I have the burden of keeping all plants alive because I have a "green thumb."
My response always goes back to retired extension agent Norman Warminski's definition of a green thumb: Treating a plant like a living thing. That means acknowledging that it needs certain basic things -- water, light -- to stay alive. If you treat a plant like it's already dead, believe me, it will die.
Usually.
Then there are some plants that seem to defy their very nature and keep growing no matter how little or how much care they receive, and no matter how haphazardly.
Such is the case of Alene Gentry's amaryllis. After carting photos of its salmon blooms around to the hairdresser and the doctor and who knows who else, she gave in to their urgings and finally brought the photos of the amaryllis to me.
"Someone gave it to Aunt Mabel, who died in 1918, and then Grandma got it. She was about 13 years old," Alene told me one sunny afternoon this week. The photos showed a healthy-looking plant in bloom, something the amaryllis did for years in December but recently has been putting off until January.
"I water it every Wednesday," Alene said -- unless she doesn't. After her grandmother died, and when her mother was taking care of her grandfather, the plant sometimes went three months without water, Alene said.
Those who know the by-the-book instructions for an amaryllis know that a dormant period of a couple of months is advised for the bulb. But Alene's mother probably didn't know it. And other aspects of its care probably do not fit the dormancy rules -- a dim spot, cool conditions.
"It's on an oval table my grandmother gave me," Alene said, completing the heirloom picture. She never moves it.
"Grandma had hers on the north. Mama had hers on the south. I have it up again at the north," she said.
Alene never wanted to repot the plant, but "my daughter-in-law had the nerve to do it," taking an offset bulb from the amaryllis in 2003. It bloomed the first year she planted it. She must have some green thumb!
"I don't know who'll get it next," Alene says of the mother plant. "I'm 73."
Most plants don't ask as much of us as we think they do. It's not like we have to have some kind of artistic talent, as if we're creating a bloom from nothing. If we wouldn't mind getting our thumbs black -- i.e., actually sticking them in the soil now and then to see how dry a plant is -- then we could keep things green easily enough, usually.
Alene never varies her routine, and the thing blooms.
I found some information about amaryllis and longevity on the Web site www.icangarden.com(how about that for encouragement!). It says that amaryllis bulbs can last for many years:
"Each year the bulb will become larger and the number of flower stalks and flowers per stalk will increase. In addition, mature bulbs will produce offsets or small bulbs alongside the original bulb.
"The offsets can be separated from the main bulb. Take a few roots along with the offset and pot it in a peat mix in the smallest plastic pot that it will fit into comfortably. Place it in your sunniest indoor window or in light shade outside if it is warm enough. Keep the soil moist and fertilize it regularly if you are using a peat mix. Repot the offset only when it is utterly pot-bound. Let it go dormant in the fall for six to eight weeks, as you do with any amaryllis.
"Lots of sun, a tight pot, and a proper dormant period are the keys to getting your offset up to blooming size. This may take a few years, so be patient. Before long you will have so many amaryllis plants that you will be able to give them away as wonderful holiday gifts."
Alene has never needed such a long-winded explanation to keep her ancestral amaryllis going. She's inspired in me a new saying to pass along to gardeners, the results of which may vary according to the color of their thumbs, or, given Alene's luck, maybe not:
May you live as long as your amaryllis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------