The First Bud 2023

After coming home from church on Sunday, I was hovering over my poor amaryllis plants, lamenting over how straggly they look and wondering if quite possibly there would be any blooms. The winter storm of 2021 and the record wind chill temperatures during Christmas week 2022 wreaked havoc with the amaryllis even though they were covered fairly well. I cut back some of them, but was really clueless what else to do other than water and feed as normal.

I was rewarded on Sunday for my patience when much to my surprise this single bulb all by itself in a pot showed me that it could handle the weather and produce a bud! My joy was complete, to say the least, that everything would be okay this amaryllis bloom season. At least if none of the others bloom, then I will have this one!

Normally, it is the showy red amaryllis (descended from my original bulb) that bud first and then bloom right around Easter. I almost mark my calendar to expect blooms during Holy Week and I’ve thought often that the red symbolizes the shed blood of Christ.

This bulb’s variety is “Christmas Gift” and is a prolific bloomer. Last year was its first year with me and it was a stunner during a lengthy blooming season. I’m sure it will be the same this year and I already know the white blooms will remind me of the gift of new life we celebrate at Easter.