Contact John Negus by email address below
Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com
Keeping a hippeastrum over the years
Q My grandchildren have once again given me a lovely amaryllis plant for Christmas. How can I keep this one alive so it comes back next year?
Marion Coles, Stockport
A Amaryllis, also known as hippeastrum, are popular Christmas gifts and look amazing in flower. However, they can be temperamental when it comes to getting them to put on a ‘repeat performance’.
From January until autumn, keep your amaryllis on a sunny, warm windowsill. Water to keep its compost moist, but not saturated, and feed weekly with a liquid houseplant fertiliser.
Deadhead when the flowers fade, but keep watering the pot when the compost
