Amending The Soil With Used Coffee Grounds

I have 6 amaryllis bulbs waiting to be planted. They are left overs from the 16 box kits I bought at Walmart as gifts to my coworkers who are also avid gardeners. I have originally planned on planting them in mid January but their scapes are getting longer and I don't want their reserved energies expended that way so I potted them up today.

I soaked the roots in warm water overnight to give them a head start. I trimmed off the dried roots and here they are ready for planting.

Since I have learned a year ago that Used Coffee Grounds are great for soil amending, I toss all of our UCGs in my garden beds. I saved up UCGs for several days to be used for potting up these group of amaryllis.

I added the UCGs in the potting soil, including the filters which will decompose in time and mixed them real good.


Since these bulbs are Walmart cheapos and that box kits are widely mislabeled, I am expecting some surprises in 6 weeks time. All of these are suppose to be Apple Blossoms.

Waiting For More Amaryllis Flowers

These bulbs did not flower in time for Christmas. I planted 2 each of Apple Blossom and Red Lion. Even though they are the common amaryllis, they will surely brighten up my days in this cold and dreary winter.


This is Misty from Brent and Becky's Bulbs. It is small, about the size of a golf ball.

Unknown Orange Amaryllis

This orange amaryllis was identified as Nagano on GardenWeb's Amaryllis Forum. Cruising thru Penning's Site it does not resemble it at all.






This is a beautiful orange amaryllis. The netting on the petals are pretty. It is hard to capture its real color and it is downfacing while it is half open. The flower measures about 7" in diameter.








Below, it is pictured with Apple Blossom. The netting on both of them is quite visible.

The Blushing Apple Blossom

I love the pale pink color of AB. It's kind of a blush on a cheek. Its green throat perfectly complemented the pinks and whites making the overall look of the flower simply gorgeous. Most of the ABs I see online are darker colored but then I've read that online catalogs are color enhanced. Mine are light colored with dark "stains" on the throat. I purchased 2 bulbs at Home Depot which are not blooming as of now and then I got 2 mislabels from Ace Hardware which are supposed to be Pink Diamond look alike. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the HD ABs will come out as not ABs!

It's Amaryllis Season!

It's been 2 days after Christmas and my amaryllis are putting on a great show. These are not the fancy hybrids but the good old amaryllises that are being sold during Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. I purchased bulbs at different big box stores. I have also ordered from Brent and Becky's Bulbs. This is labeled as Minerva at Home Depot but it bloomed as Clown. I can't complain about the mislabeling. I have been wanting to order Clown online and look I got it as Christmas present!