Amaryllis

Amaryllis
By Doug Hackbarth
Broadview Florist & Greenhouse
One of the easiest-to-grow, blooming bulb plants is the South American Amaryllis. This bulb thrives on normal household temperatures of around 70 degrees and will bloom in only 6 to 8 weeks after it is planted. The botanical named Hippeastrum, or Amaryllis comes in a wide variety of colors such as red, white, pink, salmon and orange, and even a couple of striped varieties of red and white or pink and white.
When shopping for an amaryllis bulb remember that the bigger the bulb, the larger the flower. It is worth the extra dollars to get the best bulbs you can find in all cases of flowering bulbs. Amaryllis bulbs can be planted anytime between October through April so if you buy several bulbs, plant them weeks apart to ensure blooming throughout the whole winter and spring seasons.
Planting amaryllis bulbs is usually done in a 6
1/2" pot, clay or plastic, using a very good, artificial soil mix, sometimes blended with a little course builder’s sand. It is a good idea to water the first time with warm water then wait to water a second time until after you see some growth. Any "general use" fertilizer may be applied monthly at about half the recommended rate. As the plant grows, water more often.
After the flowers get old and fade, cut them and the stem down to about 2" from the base of the plant, then keep watering and fertilizing the bulb all through the spring and summer as the healthy leaf development puts nutrients back down into the bulb for next time. Sometime in September cut the entire plant back to the top of the bulb and allow the bulb to rest in a cool place (no colder than 40 degrees) for a minimum of 6 weeks. Re-pot and start over again.

Poinsettias-Bringing Them Back Into Bloom

Bringing Poinsettias Back Into Bloom
By Doug Hackbarth
Broadview Florist & Greenhouse
I grow about 6,000 poinsettias each year and people always ask me if I have to cover them all. I do not, and neither do you. You also do not have to put them into the closet as most of you have been told. So what do you need to do in order to bring your poinsettia back into bloom? Nothing…as long as you do not turn on any lights around your poinsettia after dark, they will come into bloom naturally.
Poinsettias are extremely sensitive to any amount of light including a lamp, a night-light or even a security light outside of the window. It is a well-known fact in our industry, that even the headlights from a busy highway can delay the blooming of poinsettias grown in greenhouses near that highway. Greenhouses near a road with streetlights either have to have the lights turned off or they must block the light from shinning into their greenhouses.
For you and me it is simple to bring them back into bloom. I have no extra lights to worry about and you can simply place your poinsettia into a spare bedroom, near a sunny window, water and fertilize normally and never turn on any lights in that room after dark. That’s it.
Now, if you have not started this procedure yet, then start today as the real time for starting this "short-day" treatment was the first day of Fall, around September 21 st. Your poinsettia may bloom late, but it will bloom and it will never be as nice as it was the first year as older plants simply are never as nice as they were the first year. It is also much too late to trim or cut back your poinsettia. Cutting back poinsettias can be done anytime after it blooms and as often as you like up to the 20 th of August, then no more.

Poinsettia Toxicity Myth


Poinsettia Toxicity Myth
The poinsettia is the most widely tested
consumer plant on the market today,
proving the myth about the popular
holiday plant to be false:
The
Poinsettia
History and Legend
Poinsettia Care Tips
Toxicity Myth
By Doug Hackbarth
Broadview Florist & Greenhouses
Provided by:
Society of American Florists
1601 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 836-8700
www.aboutflowers.com
With the permission from the Society
of American Florist, Association, I
again give you the proof you need
to feel safe from the rumors that
insist poinsettias are poisonous…
they are not poisonous.
 Scientific research from The
Ohio State University has
proved the poinsettia to be
non-toxic to both humans and pets.
All parts of the plant were tested,
including the leaves and sap.
 According to POISINDEX, the
National information center for
poison control centers, a child
would have to ingest 500-600
leaves in order to exceed the
experimental doses that found no
toxicity.
 A study from the Children’s
Hospital in Pittsburgh and Carnegie
Mellon University found that out of
22,793 reported poinsettia
exposures there was essentially no
toxicity significance of any kind.
The study used national data
collected by the American
Association of Poison Control
Centers.
 As with any non-food product,
however, the poinsettia is not
meant to be eaten and can cause
varying degrees of discomfort;
therefore, the plant should be kept
out of the reach of children and pets.