BULBS & ORCHIDS

AMARYLLIS

One of the genus of the flowering bulbs that never fail to bloom year after year.  This red amaryllis was given to me by my in-laws about 5 years ago.   After the blooms were gone, I thought it would be a pain to keep them in the pot, so I just dig a hole behind the shrubs and throw it in there.  After several years of total neglect, it never fail to bloom every year.  But this year, to my big surprise, it produced about 10 flowering spikes!   The huge red flowers were so crowded, so I decided to cut half of them out and took this picture.  I guess the bulbs refused to give up and proved me wrong all these years!

I put the rest of cut flowers in a vase (below), I brought them inside the house to enjoy them more.  I guess I just fall in love with them for the first time!  So, after its blooming season is over, I will divided them and promise to find some special spots in the garden where they can be the center of attraction and be appreciated more, like the rest of my plants.  I will never neglect them anymore.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM

Saw this plant at Home Depot for the first time and it's so irresistible, we decided to get one and give it a try in our garden.  The orange star-shape flowers on long spike (about a foot) are attractive and will last very long even as cut flowers.  Who wouldn't want to grow this?

Based on my research on the internet, this bulb seems so easy to take care of and will multiply itself and become invasive after awhile.   For now, we transferred it to a bigger pot and see what happen after its blooming season.

 



 

CYMBIDIUM

Cymbidium is still one of our favorite among the bulbs or pseudobulbs.  They're part of the orchid family but this one is easier to take care of compared to the other types.  They need filtered lights and very little watering to prevent the bulbs from rotting.  They usually bloom about springtime (March through May) and their flowers can last about 4 weeks or longer if left on the plant and protected from direct sunlight.

This one (above) was given to me by my neighbor.  I also have a few of them in different colors and they're budding right now.  The bright yellow ones (below) keep blooming year after year without fail.

 

ASIATIC LILY

 

This Asiatic Lily (Lollipop) is another bulb that never fail to come back every year for more than 10 years since we bought them directly from a garden catalog.  Here in Southern California, we just leave the bulbs in the ground after they bloomed and by early spring, they just multiply and sprout and will bloom for several weeks.

 

 Of course, they're so many so we cut a few for inside the kitchen.

 

DUTCH BEARDED IRIS

 

These wonderful bi-colors Bearded Irises are among our favorites.  The delicate flowers only lasted a few days but each stalk or spike (from each bulb) usually come with 3 to 5 buds, so they will provide continuous fabulous colors in the garden for about 3 weeks until end of April or early May.