My Serendipitous Saga 

Recently on my morning walks, I’ve been seeing lots of yards with pretty blooming red amaryllis. One backyard I saw must have had about forty of them–a mass of trumpet shaped flowers–quite a sight.

And one that surprised me. I didn’t know amaryllis could be grown outside here (Jacksonville, Fla.)–I thought they were just nice gift plants to be enjoyed indoors for a few weeks until their demise. So, this was a research project for me on the Internet: “Outta the way, cat. You’re always underfoot and I can’t cuddle you now; I have important stuff to do on the computer.”

Hmmm….this site gives every detail you can possibly imagine about every plant you can imagine but you have to search by the botanical name. So–open another tab and Google amaryllis. (How our language changes–did we think 10 years ago that a verb would be “google”?) Ah ha, here it is–Hippeastrum. Now back to my other site to look it up. Yada, yada, yada (mumbling to myself) Just for good measure, I’ll doublecheck on Dave’s Garden Guides where real people tell the real scoop on plants all around the country.
Yada, yada, yada.

Conclusion: A great plant here and the variety I like is called “Heirloom”. It is red with white center stripes at its throat.

Problem: Not to be found at any nursery within a 10-mile radius. Apparently, they’re not available until fall.
Solution: When all else fails, go to eBay. Yep, there’s a man living about 10 miles from me who is selling exactly what I want. $5.00 a bulb (I want 5) but then I have to pay postage. This man was written up in the local newspaper last year and I bet he would meet me halfway at the shopping mall. I’d save postage and he’d save the hassle of wrapping and shipping. Hmmm…there’s another problem, however.

The trim on my house is orange. It’s reallly called “terra cotta” but to me, no matter how sophisticated the color name, it’s still orange. I’ve never liked it but decided when I bought the house that I can live with it until time to paint. The Heirloom amaryllis will clash with the orange.

Options: I can get them anyway because I really like them and eventually I’ll paint the house, but the color clash would nibble away at my sense of harmony. What to do–should I get them or not?

While I’m mulling this over for a couple of days, I miss the deadline on the eBay offering. Yeah, I know, if you snooze, you lose. Guess I wasn’t meant to have them.

I saw this morning that my next door neighbor is setting up for a yard sale–putting out clothes, plants and… Plants??? Oh my gosh, I have to stroll over and see what she has. And there they are–the most beautiful coral (not red, not orange–a shade inbetween) amaryllis that goes great with the trim. I get 5 of them and she gets all of two dollars. Life is good!

Now, where do I put them? Not where I had planned because I also bought an agapanthus from her which would look better in that spot so … hmmm. Have to stroll around the yard & consider this. No matter all the people coming to the yard sale who stare at an old lady next door who is seemingly wandering around and around in a daze with an idiotic grin on her face!

Subscribe!

Why?  It supports our writers and photographers…what a great feeling it is to support someone in doing what makes their heart sing.  You will be in the know–never miss an article again.  It’s always fun to get a great deal, can’t get better than free.  And, you could win a very cool prize.  All subscribers entered to wingreat prizes from our drawings.