Amaryllis bulbs are beautiful gifts and will keep giving with some effort.
- An Amaryllis bulb is a nice Christmas gift.
- Obtaining a second-year bloom of an Amaryllis bulb is worth the effort.
- Getting a second flowering stalk the second year is a huge bonus.
- There are some challenges to photographing an Amaryllis.
If you’ve ever received an Amaryllis bulb in a box for Christmas, you know what a delight those big beautiful blooms are in the middle of winter. But have you ever wondered if you can make it bloom the next year?
A little YouTubing provided instructions on caring for this bulb after the first year. It was repotted and kept outside all summer. Apparently, they do better in a pot only slightly bigger than the bulb.
It was brought indoors in the fall and received window light and regular watering. Just when it seemed that it wouldn’t bloom again, a flower stalk shot up in the beginning of February.
It grew to 3 ½ feet tall and flowers were 8” across. There were 4 flowers on the stalk. After a beautiful show, the flowers faded and dried up as usual. A month and a half later, up shot another flower stalk.
Having missed the opportunity to photograph the flowers the first time around, the second chance was too hard to ignore. The plant grew 3 ½ feet tall again with 4 flowers.
These flowers are 5 inches deep so getting enough depth of field is somewhat tricky. It’s good to keep in mind that lenses focus more behind the point of focus than in front when deciding where to place the focus.
In addition to using smaller apertures, you can also increase your distance from the flower to get more depth of field.
