If you received an amaryllis as a holiday gift, you know what we’re talking about. Botanically speaking, this bulb is Hippeastrum. The true amaryllis genus is the belladonna lily, not a houseplant. But Hippeastrum has come to be known as amaryllis, so that’s what we call it. And this plant, by any other name, would be just as beautiful.

Hopefully, the bud had not yet opened on arrival so that you could have the sweet anticipation of watching this blossom do its thing from beginning to end. You may have had one of the huge reds, such as “Hercules” or “Sensation,” or “Picotee,” a white with delicate red edging on each petal. They come in pure colors of coral, pink, and peach, sometimes striped or streaked, and often produce two or three flower stalks that each bear their own huge flowers. This obviously makes for quite a show.

But as with all good things, the show must end at some point. And then what? Fortunately, the amaryllis is one of those plants that can be coaxed into bloom for another season if given the proper care. And the key to this care is to recognize that the bulb must be nourished now in order to begin the process of forming the flower within, for the next cycle of bloom.

When the flowers have faded, remove the flower head, but leave the stalk on for a while and continue to water and feed it just as if it were still blooming.
Keep the soil moist, and feed it once or twice a month with a half strength balanced fertilizer (20/20/20.) You might want to remove the plant to a location where it is not obvious, as it will get to be a bit of a mess. But never mind. This is the most important time in the life cycle of the plant, as the bulb is beginning the internal process of forming its next flower and it needs to be nourished. This process may take several months, and it might be mid to late summer before the foliage finally yellows and dies off. When this happens, cut off the remaining foliage and give the bulb a total rest, without food or water and in a cool place, for at least a month. This can take place in the shade outdoors, or in a cool cellar.

When you are ready to trigger the next blooming season, probably early November, move the bulb into a warmer location, remove a layer of the topsoil, and give it a new dressing of potting mix and a light feeding of bone meal. Water it generously, and then leave it alone until you see the first little green shoot, the sign of new life. Then you can begin a regular schedule of watering and feeding as before. Once a flower shoot starts its upward surge, and some leaves appear, you can move it into sunlight to hasten its bloom. Be sure to rotate it so that the stem will grow straight upward and not turn into a “leaning tower!” The flower stalk will be so strong that it will not need staking.

Sometimes it seems as if the thing will never getting started, but don’t be discouraged. Amaryllises have a mind of their own, and it is iffy to predict when they will bloom. But once they get started, look out! The rate of growth is amazing, and this is another reason why this bulb makes a great gift even if it hasn’t bloomed yet. It is interesting to watch and even measure day by day – fun for a child to do.

The amaryllis does not like to be repotted. In fact, it does not like to be disturbed at all. If a season’s growth seems weak, or a pot has cracked, or if the bulb is being pressed by numerous offsets, repot it in the middle of its dormant period when the roots may not realize what is happening to them. This is the time to pot up any offsets in smaller individual pots, and grow them on for a few years until they begin to bloom.

As you will see, when you give an amaryllis, you give a gift for a lifetime!

In the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses, Wellesley College

 From Houseplants are Houseguests

Remember pet rocks? That fad of the 70’s?

People actually spent money for a rock that was the lowest maintenance possible pet. It didn’t eat or drink anything, it did not need to be taken out although it loved to ride around in your pocket, and it didn’t bark at night. It never complained when left alone, and was always there when you needed it.

If you loved pet rocks you will love “Living Stones,” plants that are almost as trouble free, and that are the closest rock imitators in the plant world. They blend into their stony habitat so skillfully that one is hard pressed to spot them in the wild. And when they bloom, it’s like a sci-fi experience. Talk about weird!

The name Lithops comes from the Greek “lithos” stone, and “opsis” face, and the plants are commonly called “Living Stones” because that is exactly what they look like. In the plant world, these little critters may have the highest IQ and the best ability to predict danger and defend themselves. When it comes to survival of the fittest, Lithops win hands down.

Members of the succulent family Mesembryanthemaceae, thankfully called Mesembs for short, they are found in arid, desolate areas of South Africa and Namibia where they have had to go to great lengths to survive. They do this by having reduced themselves to a very small size that is totally devoted to water storage. Two succulent leaves, smooth and low to the ground, are all that can be seen and even they can shrink down almost below the pebbly surface if extreme conditions warrant evasive action. Masters of camouflage, these leaves over the centuries have developed markings and colors that closely resemble the patterns and colors in the stones surrounding them, thereby contributing different characteristics to varieties. Even grazing animals, desperate for water during periods of drought, can easily pass them by.

There is a little fissure between the two leaves containing the meristem, the growth cells of the plant. Here the taproot grows downward to seek out whatever water it can. From the same meristem, and when the Lithops is about three years old, reproduction will begin. Following the seasonal rains, the fissure will separate and a bud will grow upward to produce a flower and a new pair of leaves. Watching the flower emerge from the “stones” is truly one of the most amazing sights in nature! When the new leaves mature and grow fleshy, drawing their water and nutrients from the older leaves, the latter shrivel away and die off.

From this description, it is easy to see that Lithops can be ideal pet stones in your houseplant collection. Their needs are simple, but important to understand. They have been smart enough to stay alive under certain conditions that must be provided in order to have them think that they are back in their native land.

Light and water are the key ingredients to success. They require 4 to 5 hours of direct sunlight per day, morning sun is best. If grown in a south-facing window, they should be shaded or given filtered light during the afternoon. In the spring, after a winter of less intense light, they should be reintroduced to direct sunlight gradually in order to prevent sunburn. Think of them as people, and be sensible about a sudden shock.

Watering Lithops is one time when we should not think of them as people, at least not normal people who need water. Basically, they are watered during spring and fall. They go dormant during the summer months, and should be given only enough water to prevent them from shriveling. In the fall, after the dormancy period, Lithops begin their flowering cycle and should be watered deeply in order to get the growth going. Water enough to get it down to the taproot, just as Mother Nature would do with her seasonal rains. Allow the soil to dry out almost completely between waterings. If the soil stays damp around the plant, it is likely to lead to rot.

After the fall growth cycle, withhold water altogether to allow the new leaves to draw their water naturally from the old leaves, and to allow the old leaves to shrivel away. Mist occasionally during this period. Once spring approaches, you can begin again to water gradually. With summer and the period of dormancy, gradually withhold water and you are back to the beginning of the cycle.

Lithops are easily cultivated from seed, which can be extracted from the seed capsule. It is available also from several internet sources. Sprinkle the tiny seeds directly into a well-drained sandy medium, perhaps sand mixed with a fine gravel. Leave it uncovered, and mist just enough to prevent the seeds from drying out. When the seedlings are large enough, transplant them into their permanent pots. Provide extra drainage capability by adding one part sand (not beach sand) to two parts of your soil mix, and plant them in pots deep enough to accommodate their taproots. Set a few pebbles or stones on the surface of the soil for company and to give the Lithops someone to imitate, and sprinkle a light layer of sand or thin gravel over the surface. Obviously, they will lend themselves very well to dish gardens accompanied by stones and other succulents.

Just like pet rocks, these little creatures are irresistible. They are so cute, and funny, that they will win your heart. Run your fingers over their smooth surfaces once in a while to let them know that you know that they’re alive. They love to be petted!

Purchase online at wheatmark.com/bookstore; amazon.com; barnesandnoble.com; borders.com

$12.95 US

From the Experts:

Julie Moir Messervy, author of Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love

     “Anne Moore’s charming book Houseplants are Houseguests is not only a plant guide full of useful tips, but also sweetly philosophical. Her eleventh commandment, ‘think of your plants as people,’ should stand as the guiding principle for every aspiring green thumb.”

Richard Fabrizio, Managing Editor, Seacoast Media Group

      “For more than ten years, readers of the  Seacoast Media Group  newspapers turned to Anne Moore and her In the Pot column for the wisdom of one of the region’s greenest thumbs. Know what lithops are? You will if you read Moore’s ‘Stones Get a Life.’ In Houseplants for Houseguests, Moore once more challenges the expert and encourages the novice to grow their garden imaginations.”

Kristina N. Jones, Director, Wellesley College Botanic Gardens

     “Anne Moore’s advice sounds simple: bring out the best in your plants by getting to know them as individuals. What she’s really tempting and guiding us to do in this wonderful book is to become more observant, and to engage with these fascinating organisms we’ve taken under our care. Houseplants are Houseguests becomes a gateway to the world of plants.”

About the Book

Subtitled Tips for Indoor Garden Success, this collection represents the best of In the Pot, my newspaper column which has run for many years. The advice I offer is based on my own personal approach to plant care, one of a close and caring relationship, that gets results.

I am strictly an amateur horticulturist.  My tips on how to care for a wide variety of houseplants come directly from my own research and experimentation. How to start plants from seed, take cuttings, prune and divide, set bulbs and prevent diseases all are processes I have learned through trial and error. The plants I have chosen to write about are some of my favorites, including some popular houseplants, some that are less well-known, and several associated with major holidays. I treat them as individual personalities, admire their beauty and endurance, and often am surprised and delighted by their unconventional behavior. 

A guiding principle of my writing has been to share what works and doesn’t work for me. “If I can do it, so can you!”

 That doesn’t stop us from appreciating the asparagus fern as a very beautiful foliage plant and, if it should bloom and berry, all the better. The first rule it breaks is in its name. It is not a fern at all. Probably ages ago someone called it a fern because it looked like one, and the name stuck. But its flowers, seeds and berries place is squarely among the angiosperms, the large family of flowering plants totally unrelated to the ferns. It is, in fact, related to the vegetable asparagus, and they belong to their own botanical family named, what a surprise – Asparagaceae!

 As taxonomists love to proclaim, we get into a lot of trouble and make a lot of errors in using common names. And they’re right. Familiar examples, especially at this time of year, are the Christmas cactus, which is an epiphytic cactus but not one of the desert cacti, the Christmas rose which is not a rose but a hellebore, the amaryllis which is not an amaryllis at all but a hippeastrum, and . . . .

 That’s enough of that! The important thing is that this fake fern is a very dependable houseplant that retains its good looks all year round. Asparagus densiflorus originates in the coastal areas of South Africa, where it grows like a weed over sand and rocks and runs riot in the woods. This is our clue to its adaptability and versatility as a houseplant, and may be a reason for the evolution of the plant parts into nontraditional forms. What we call the leaves are not true leaves but are cladodes which is a botanical term for modified branches. The little spines, or needles, are modified leaves. Again, these plant parts don’t follow the rules as we know them, but they did follow other rules of survival that have enabled the plant to live in tough environments, just as the modification of plant parts has helped the cactus family to survive in other parts of the world.

 On our patio in southern Arizona, large pots planted with asparagus ferns thrive year round, with only a weekly watering during the hot summer months, and they withstand the occasional light frost of the winter months. Their needles turn white when frost-killed, but all I have to do is cut back those particular stems, and the rest of the plant is just fine.

 Of the many A. densiflorus species, only a few have come into popular use as houseplants partly because of the spines which make them a little difficult to handle, and because of their erratic flowering habit. I think that they deserve a larger market if only as foliage plants, as the green color retains its light, fresh appearance, and the form is very pleasing especially when used in a grouping. All the cultivars have small flowers packed closely together on the stems, hence the “densiflorus” description. The tiny flowers are white with a light pink tone, and are sometimes hard to see because the foliage also can be quite dense. The flowers produce red berries each holding a single black seed.

The ‘Sprengeri’ can grow several feet tall, and is a good container plant as its tall stems bend and sway. ‘Mazeppa’ is lower and more compact, the stems are more flexible and arching. It is a good choice for hanging baskets. Also called Cat’s Tail asparagus, or Foxtail Fern, ‘Meyersii’ or ‘Meyers’ can grow tall with its branches arising from the center of the plant.

 Although asparagus ferns tolerate a wide variety of conditions, they do best in rich, organic soil and like regular watering. All except the cultivar ‘Cwebe’ like full sun which produces the best quality foliage. If grown in shade, the stems grow longer and the feathery leaves are farther apart because they are forced to reach out in their search for light. The ‘Cwebe’ prefers a light shade, and produces young fronds that are a light copper color. They all do fine in the average temperatures of your home.

 The roots lead to white, fleshy tubers that can get very compact if the plant becomes pot bound. The easiest propagation method is by root division, which is sometimes easier said than done. The tubers can be loosened by a good soaking, but if that doesn’t work, you may have to take a large knife to the root ball. I have quartered such a dense root ball, just cutting it into sections with a butcher knife, and then tried to loosen the little tubers. When they refused to  separate,  I just plunked  the four sections into four new pots using good soil, watered them gently and kept the four new plants in bright light but out of the sun until new growth began to show. Three of the four survived!

 Handling the asparagus fern is a little touchy. It’s best to wear gloves if you are going to divide it or prune it back. The best time for pruning is after the flowering period, if you are lucky enough to have one! If you don’t, break the rules and prune it whenever you have a chance.

 As we gear up for the Christmas season, we’re once again seeing the old familiar gift plants in catalogs and garden centers. They’re fine, in fact, wonderful. But why not go for something a little different, a merry little plant making a happy statement in red and green?

 Canvassing the local scene, I find at least three familiar small plants that will serve beautifully as gifts, and as our own table-top decorations. In fact, two have become so popular at this time of year that they have acquired second names – the Christmas Cherry and the Christmas Pepper. The third choice, Kalanchoe, has been a tried and truer for a long time.

 The Jerusalem Cherry, Solanum pseudocapsicum, could serve as a miniature   Christmas tree without the needles. Put a little glitter around it, and pop it on your coffee table. If you have young children or curious pets, however, stop right here – it is toxic, a member of the same family that includes nightshade as a relative. But if you or your giftee don’t have that concern, it is an adorable and colorful addition to the indoor décor with its bright, albeit dangerous “cherries” that are actually the berries of the plant. The berries and other plant parts are not considered to be fatally poisonous, if that’s any comfort.

 Does anyone know why this plant is called Jerusalem Cherry? I could not find any reference to the source of its common name, but since the plant’s origin is the Madeira Islands, I’m inspired.  Let’s pretend that the plant was taken to the Islands by one of the Moors or Arabs during the reign of the Ottomans – that seems logical, and a bit romantic!

 The Jerusalem Cherry likes to be cool, but it also likes full sun, at least in the winter. If you can tolerate indoor temperatures ranging from 50 to 60 degrees, this plant will get along with you just fine! It likes to be kept well watered and misted, and likes a feeding of 5-10-5 fertilizer or manure tea every two weeks. It appreciates humidity that can be produced by keeping the pot on a tray of pebbles or peastone kept constantly moist. A sudden chill, a prolonged dry spell, or temperatures above 70 degrees may result in “cherry drop,” and there go your Christmas ornaments!

 Another cutie for the season is the Ornamental Pepper, Capsicum annuum. Its colorful fruits, some of which are edible, come in a wide variety of shapes, mimicking grown-up edible peppers. They range from slim and tapering to short and plump, and their color when young begins in shades of ivory or yellow turning to orange, and then finally to bright red when fully ripe. Some of the fruits are purple. Some varieties such as ‘Black Pearl’ have intense black foliage and red fruits that turn a shiny black when fully ripe. Although dramatic, ‘Black Pearl’ is more appropriate for Hallowe’en.

 A popular variety is ‘Chilly Chili,’ an AAS 2002 selection. Others are ‘Nu Mex Twilight’ which holds its little peppers well up above the foliage, and ‘Medusa’ named for its wavy and snaky fruits! Ornamental peppers love sunshine and need more warmth than the Jerusalem Cherry, but can tolerate night temperatures in the low 60’s. They like to have constantly moist soil but no fertilizer. When their little peppers fade and die, toss the plants on the compost pile.

 Kalanchoe should need no introduction to anyone who keeps a winter collection of houseplants, and it serves as a cheery and welcome gift for its beautiful colors and easy maintenance. Although it originated in Madagascar, it was popularized in Europe by a German merchant, Mr. Blossfeld, and named for him. Kalachoe blossfeldiana was hybridized in its current form in the 80s by Danish and Dutch growers who produced a wide range of colors from the original red and, more recently, some bi-colored varieties. For our purposes, we’ll stick to red or maybe a bold magenta.

 Knowing that Kalanchoe is a succulent gives us a clue to its care. It prefers a clay pot which allows good drainage, and a light soil mixed with some sand (not beach sand.) It likes direct sunlight during the winter. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings and do not feed it while flowering. It can tolerate cool temperatures especially at night.

 These three plants are difficult to keep after their show for the holiday season, but if you like a challenge, you can try. Give the Jerusalem Cherry a dormant period for several weeks after its Christmas show, in a cool place and with no water. When spring approaches, prune it back and give it a summer outdoors in the shade. If it responds, keep it pinched back, repot it if necessary, and bring it indoors to resume its pre-holiday care. Kalanchoes can be reproduced by taking cuttings, and growing them on outdoors in the shade in summer. They are short day plants, and will need 12 to 14 hours of darkness starting in early September for a month in order to bloom for the next Christmas season.

 All three can be grown from seed which will give you a better result, healthier plants, and more vigorous flowers and fruit.

 But one of the best features of these “merry little three” is that after the holiday season, when they have done their thing for you, you can throw them out, with no guilt, to make way for whatever comes next!