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| At a local hotel refurbishment |
On the occasion of our thirty eighth wedding anniversary last October, I bought Shirley an amaryllis bulb rather than a bunch of flowers. It came in a box with its own plant pot and a bag of nutritious compost.
A month later she followed instructions and the bulb was placed on our fireplace tiles. We waited and waited. After three weeks, the bulb began to stir. Little green fingers emerged from the head of the bulb and gradually they grew towards the ceiling.
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| Last week |
Christmas came and went then New Year and a flower spear emerged amidst the greenery. When would the flower heads promised on the box appear? We waited some more. Finally this very morning I came downstairs to discover that two of the flowers had opened complete with stamens crowded with yellow pollen.
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| Yesterday |
The magical process has reached its crescendo as a secondary flower spear is still making its way towards the ceiling. I am sure that many of you out there in the blogosphere will have also witnessed in wonder the astonishing growth of amaryllis plants.
The name Amaryllis is taken from a shepherdess in the Roman poet Virgil's pastoral "Eclogues" and all amaryllis plants originated in the Western Cape region of South Africa.
Today
Very pretty...we used to have these growing years ago. I've not seen them for ages.
ReplyDeleteI was hesitant to write a comment seeing my previous responses in your previous post were ignore. I'm not sure if I was ignored on purpose or not. They're pretty hard to miss! Oh! Well! One can't win them all!
Of course I read your comments on the previous post Lee. I always do. You should know by now that I have great respect and indeed affection for you. I admire your honesty, your forthrightness and your independent way of thinking. On this occasion I chose not to comment because Dr Michelle got there before me and there was something of a dialogue going on. I didn't like to interfere.
DeleteCuriously, Michelle Frantom, for reasons known only to her, deleted her first response to what I had written. I find it quite strange...if she chose to do that, why she didn't delete her second comment directed at me. Hmmmm...very strange, indeed!
DeleteMaybe she is the Phantom.... :)
I don't recall ever seeing her comment on your blog before this...I am getting old, you know...maybe my memory is fading. :)
No I don't think Dr Michelle has been here before but by George I appreciated her thoughts based on real experiences inside a tough Aussie prison. Very interesting.
DeleteAnd, yet...you don't think it weird she deleted a couple of her comments, which she had directed at me.
DeleteI find that very interesting...along with a couple of other things....
Maybe Dr Michelle will call by again. Perhaps she will discover Australia's finest blog - "Kitchen Connection" and leave some interesting comments there as well.
DeleteTruly worth the wait. Isn't nature wonderful. Your photos brought to mind a line from a NZ song from the 70s Come Dance All Around The World by Blerta... "see all the beauty that surrounds us". Too often we miss these magic moments, wrapped up in our busy lives.
ReplyDeleteEvery day I look out my kitchen window, across the tops of the blooming pink and purple hydrangeas and lift up my eyes to the ridges of the Port Hills and the Southern Alps. I give thanks for their inspiring beauty free to everyone to admire. Without them these Canterbury Plains would be exactly that!
I have half a dozen lilies in bud in my garden almost ready to burst into flower but one is almost as tall as the house and still growing (shades of Jack and the Beanstalk). I'm sure the packet said 2ft not 12. Maybe it's the horse manure.
Maybe you have got green fingers. When it is full grown try climbing to the top but watch out for the giant who lives up there! Thanks for calling by again and leaving such a thoughtful comment.
DeleteGreen they may well be, but also slightly arthritic. A legacy of misspent youth on the netball and basketball courts.
DeleteI have been enjoying your posts as always but not commenting as the courgette plant is now in full production.... my life is no longer my own.
I love amaryllis flowers! My mom gave me two, a red and a white, for our first Christmas in the new house. They were so beautiful when the flowers finally opened! What a nice anniversary gift for Mrs. Pudding.
ReplyDeleteThey do take a while don't they? You have to be patient.
DeleteDidn't Tony Christie record a song about them? Must be a Sheffield thing.
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking of "Is this the way to Armadillo?" ? Wouldn't want one of them in our front room.
DeleteIt's been many years since I last had an amaryillis at home, but I love them and maybe it is time to have another one.
ReplyDeleteSnap your fingers and OK will provide you with one.
DeleteThey are beautifully exotic. How long are they in flower and do you get multiple blooms from one plant?
ReplyDeleteWe have got a second spear coming. I have never paid close attention before.
DeleteI remember playing on the piano as a youngster a piece called "Narcissus" by an American chap named Ethelbert Nevin. It was lovely,with crossing over of the hands and everything. I don't remember encountering a piece called "Amaryllis"
ReplyDeletePerhaps you can write that piece yourself Bob...and later post it in your illustrious Georgian blog.
DeleteAren't they beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes- even though we see plants grow all of the time and we understand how it works, scientifically, it is still what I like to call a "pragmatic miracle". Magic of the real kind, no less impressive for its everydayness.
Just because we have witnessed the process over and over again doesn't nake it less magical.
DeleteMine opened last week and I have, so far, had three blooms and I think there are more to come. They are marvelous plants and such a bright spot in my home during the darkness of winter.
ReplyDeleteThey are so big and brash aren't they Arleen?
DeleteThose are beautiful! I wonder how they compare to the wild variety? I'm sure amaryllis have been heavily hybridized and probably look nothing like what's found in nature. They're a pleasure to have around, though.
ReplyDelete(Shouldn't the phrase in that top pic be "...to those WHO wait"??
I thought the same,Steve. 😉
DeleteI doubt that street artists are all that bothered about English grandma.
DeleteYes, Steve. It should be who not that.
DeleteWhat I really want to know is who the English grandma belongs to? Does she belong to the street artist? Or is she just an innocent bystander who was reading the sign, tripped and fell into the comment box?
I have to say the comment boxes on your blog have been highly entertaining the last couple of posts.
Alphie
They do take a long time to reach full flower. A lot of tender, loving care and patience. Along with the proper nutrition and light. Just like a marriage that has reached its thirty eighth year.
ReplyDeleteAw! You are so kind-hearted Mama Thyme - like a big sister should be.
DeleteI once visited a chateau near to Royan. The gardens were spectacular. There were, in one border, Amaryllis as far as you could see. A glorious sight.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long they would have lasted in that border. You picked a good time to visit.
DeleteMy mother used to grow an amaryllis each winter. She has since scaled back on her indoor potted plants but I remember how quickly they seemed to grow.
ReplyDeleteAren't all seeds magical, when you think about it? And all reproduction, actually.
It is easy to take such things for granted.
DeleteI have a feeling that "All good things come to those that wait" is not true. Just as example I've been waiting for 'that' to become 'who' for ages.
ReplyDeleteI have waiting for that pub/hotel to reopen for three years!
DeleteSadly I cannot have those in the house as they are from the Lilly family and are poisonous to cats, but they are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
You have taught me something today.
DeleteThe Amaryllis is beautiful and well worth the wait. That was a lovely thought for an anniversary gift. The colors are delicate and lovely.
ReplyDeleteDelicate and lovely - just like you Bonnie!
DeleteI like the juxtaposition in that first photo of the very severe looking weather man (probably forecasting gloomy weather) and the spring hope of the emerging flower. Isn't nature wonderful!
ReplyDeleteUm, second photo actually. The first of the Amaryllis though!
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