
when in good growth use manure water or mulch with manure. This is good 
advice for pot grown bulbs as well, but don’t give heavy feeding to a sick 
or starved bulb. Plants, animals and people must have enough vigor to digest 
and assimilate food. If they do not have this, it becomes a poison. 
Keep the bulbs growing as long as they will grow. When the foliage 
begins to yellow, about Nov. usually, one may reduce water, and give them 
a rest. Store pots in a cool room as for starting. 
Usually the summer’s growth will have increased the size of the bulbs 
sufficiently to require shifting to a larger pot. The new pot should be large 
enough to accommodate all the roots. Do not remove or injure any of the 
roots and contrive to distribute them thruout the soil. 
When repotted, water at once to settle soil around the roots. Thereafter 
repeat the procedure followed when you planted the dry bulbs. But your 
bulbs are now much better bulbs. They are not dried out and they have or 
should have many roots. If kept too wet or too warm while dormant, the 
roots may rot. But if you handle the bulbs carefully you may expect more, 
larger and better flowers the second year. With experience you may become 
skillful in having flowers even by Jan. 1 and others up to May 1. 
I am frequently asked why the inquirer’s bulbs do not flower. Perhaps 
they have flowered the first year after their purchase but not thereafter. 
Some state their bulbs become smaller each year. These results inevitably 
follow wrong culture. Flowers in the spring are sure to result if good growth 
was made in the preceding period. If you have trouble in getting good growth 
in pots, be sure to try shifting to the garden after flowering. 
There is no such thing as the Red Fire Disease of Amaryllis. Nor is it 
“ketching.” The red pigment or rust results from decay of the Amaryllis 
tissue of any part of the plant. It is the normal reaction of the Amaryllis 
tissue to any injury or bruise and may be caused by one’s shoes, garden tools, 
cut worms or other insect bites, sunburn or frost, cloddy or gravelly soil, too 
great acidity of the soil, contact with soil sulphur or chemical fertilizer, or 
even too much fresh manure. It often appears in a very mild form in stored 
bulbs as the result of decay or oxidation of the outer tunic of the bulb. 
None of these things are of grave importance. Even a healthy man 
may sneeze. 
But when a bulb is really sick the red rust is excessively produced and 
this symptom should not be overlooked. 
Check on pot drainage, soil, and all conditions. 
When a bulb is infested with narcissus fly, dig out the grubs and coat 
wounds with tree seal and replant. Do not treat Amaryllis wounds with 
sulphur. It is too acid and is therefore a poison. 
Do not plant Amaryllis too close to trees or shrubs. They do not compete 
well with roots of such robust plants. 
When they fail, many blame the bulbs, instead of their culture. It takes 
a wise person to Say, “I failed,” rather than, “the bulbs were not good.” A 
good grower will be able to change poor bulbs into good bulbs in one season. 
How to judge the quality of the flowers of Amaryllis hybrids. The perfect 
flower of the Leopoldi type should be 5” to 8” across. The petals should be 
well rounded and broad, overlapping each other, no twisting of petals, and 
they should form a wide open, flat flower. The texture should be smooth 
and firm, of good substance. The tube should be short. There should be 
little or no green in throat but the species Leopoldi contains considerable 
green. There are few hybrids that do not contain some green. Very few are 
perfect in every respect. 
There should be no dull colors, like brick red. But colors should be bright 
and of every imaginable tone within the range of this genus. 
Self colors are desirable to go along with stripes and other variations. 
But it is difficult to get other than red selfs and these are unusual. A few 
of our Select Strains, American Hybrids are pure red, scarlet, rose or pink 
selfs. But they are few and not separately labeled. Don’t order self colors 
or any colors except as listed. 
Please note. There is no quantity discount on Amaryllis except as noted 
with listing. 
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