Herself's Houseplants

Amaryllis shows up in all the stores around October or so. If you bring one home and pot it up you should see blooms in six to eight weeks. Amaryllis is one of the easiest blooming bulbs to force indoors. Once the flower stalk appears it can grow several inches in a day reaching between one to three feet before blooming. At the top four flowers will open each one about 3″-5″ across.

Down here we can plant them outdoors for spring blooms.

To rebloom your amaryllis next Christmas keep it growing either inside or out doors if the weather permits. Around Labor Day ( first weekend in September ) bring it indoors, un-pot the bulb and clean the dirt off it. Then place it in a paper bag and put it in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Leave it there until Halloween ( very end of Oct. ) then repot it up to bloom for another holiday.

Blooms will last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months depending on conditions.

Amaryllidaceae are actually part of the narcissus family of flowers. The name comes from the Greek word ‘amarysso’ meaning to sparkle. Many of this family of flowers have a sheen to them, hence the name.

Originally from Africa, a ship carrying these bulbs crashed in the sea near Japan around 1650. Bulbs washed ashore and in the spring the locals were greeted with a huge display of these lovely large red flowers.

See also:
Solving Decorating Problems with plants

Maybe it isn’t the cat causing your allergy. It could be your houseplants.

Any house plant can cause allergic reactions but Ficus ( weeping fig aka Benjamin’s fig ) is the most common. The milky sap on the leaves is the cause. The sap gets attached to dust particles and dispersed through out the home or office. People with latex allergies are most likely to react to ficus.

Other plants known to be a problem are chrysanthemums and daisies. Of course any blooming plant or scented plant can cause reactions.

Then there is the problem of mold in the potting mix of house plants to be considered.

More information:
House plants can cause allergic reactions