How to care for an amaryllis | House & Garden

Dramatic and elegant, amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are bulbous indoor plants that cheer us through the coldest months. The huge flowers bloom atop tall, sturdy stems, opening like colourful trumpets, as if about to blast away the winter blues with a clarion call.

The genus name means 'knight's star', named by British botanist William Herbert, from the Ancient Greek hippeus (mounted knight) and the Latin astrum (star or constellation). In Sparta, in ancient Greece, the hippeis was the 300-strong cavalry that served as the royal guard. Herbert decided on this name perhaps because the flower buds sometimes resemble horses' heads or in honour of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who was made a Knight of the Order of the Polar Star and therefore wore a badge that looked like an amaryllis flower.

Although the common name is amaryllis, Hippeastrum are – confusingly – not the same as true Amaryllis, which come from South Africa. That genus comprises just two species, including A. belladonna, which is grown outside in the UK and produces fragrant pink funnel flowers in autumn. Hippeastrum, on the other hand, encompasses 111 species that hail from Central and South America. Many are trumpet-shaped and lily-like; some have flatter flowers with beautiful markings, making them resemble resting butterflies; and others have many slender, curved petals, like colourful, exotic spiders.

Most of the bulbs forced for indoor flowering in the UK are hybrids, of which there are over 600 to choose from. The enormous bulbs, which look like hand grenades, are not cheap but produce 2 to 4 flowering stems in succession, so you don't need many. The time they are potted up – between October and January – determines at which point they will flower between