amaryllis, tulips, crocus

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amaryllis in vases

amaryllis in vaseI've had some difficulties with my amaryllis this year. First, when I started them the water turned practically black with the roots rotting. I expected many of the existing roots to rot and then new ones grow. I just had to replace the water and pull off the rotted roots. After that no problems with rotting. Then, they got so tall they fell over. I've had this in previous years but never so badly as this year. When they fell they broke the stems and even the new vase third from right - and I had been so pleased to find that vase. I also managed to break a piece off the rim of another vase so all in all, a poor result for the amaryllis, even if the snapshot above captures them before they broke. The one to the right I moved onto the floor and tried to lean it against something to keep it up but it still kept falling over.

I had better luck with the white tulips this year. Quite pleased with them. They all bloomed and didn't get too leggy.  These are the white tulips on January 8th. Still no sign of any red tulips.

These are the tulips a few days earlier.

white tulips forced in vases

Like the hyacinths, the crocus are blooming steadily. Last year I incorrectly put the bulbs under the lid of this crocus bowl but I think they are supposed to be placed on top as pictured below.

Funnily enough I have never had any double-stemmed hyacinths (from single-stemmed varieties) before but this year I have three.  This one is ready to burst into bloom, the one below bloomed early and another is still in the cellar, along with about 10 other bulbs which still don't seem to be doing much. They seem to be well and truly "stunted".

double-stemmed Jan Bos hyacinth