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The Amaryllis Bulb, Week 5

December 16, 2013 by Jeanne

The amaryllis bulb, week 5. I keep chanting, “Grow, baby, grow” but it’s not listening.

amaryllis bulb
Amaryllis Bulb, Week 5

 

amaryllis bulb
Amaryllis Bulb, Week 5

So maybe good things do come to those who wait. But I’m tired of waiting. (Boy, do I sound whiny.) I want my flowers and I want it NOW (chanted in Verukah Salt-style whine).

The amaryllis bulb is slowly, and I mean snail-slowly, pushing forth its shoots. It is stretching luxuriously in the morning sunlight, taking its time to wake up. Maybe it needs coffee?

Here is last week’s photo:

amaryllis bulb
Amaryllis Bulb, Week 4

Can you spot any difference? Anything?

Because I can’t.

Groucho kitty is not impressed:

cat picture
Groucho

He’s absolutely adorable, but no impressed. Neither am I.

I don’t know what I am doing wrong. The first time I grew an amaryllis, it grew like Jack in the Beanstalk, seeming to shoot up several inches overnight. Does it need more light? Water? I’m afraid of rotting the bulb and overwatering it. Maybe it’s too cold in the plant room? Should I move it back to my south-facing windows in the office and hope that the kitties don’t find it again?

It’s a good reminder for those times when I deal with frustrated gardeners. Sometimes I get impatient; I want to say to people who come to me with plant problems, “Don’t worry about it; they’re just plants; start again.”  Now, however, I have a much better sense of what they are feeling. Frustration. Upset. Impatient. They want their plants to grow and thrive. More than anything, however, they want answers.

Why aren’t you growing, you silly amaryllis?

It’s not saying. It’s making me guess.

I hate guessing games!

Filed Under: House Plants, Thanksgiving & Christmas

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