Brilliant red, snowy white and rosy pink Amaryllis blooms bring a festive air to your home, and add showy splashes of red, white and green to your Christmas decor. Since Amaryllis bulbs are so easy to grow you may want to buy a Twinkle Twinkle or Candy Floss or other happily named Amaryllis for your home or as a gift.

Thankfully, you do not need a green thumb to successfully grow Amaryllis, and as the thick stalks rise up, visitors will stop in their tracks and say "wow, what is that?", even before one bloom appears. These are spectacular holiday plants.

Select the biggest bulb you can find, which will provide flowers six to eight inches across. The growers have done much of your work for you, by nurturing and fertilizing the bulbs in ideal conditions. All of their energy is already in the bulb, so all you need to do is provide a sunny indoor location near a window and water once or twice a week.

Buy a bulb already in a container, an ideal gift to give or for your own home, or buy a bulb and select a pot that is slightly wider than the bulb, and that has a drainage hole. Add a small amount of potting soil, leave the top one third of the Amaryllis bulb uncovered, and it is ready to grow. I add colored glass florist's marbles on top of the soil for a pretty effect. Ceramic pots are my choice since their weight helps stabilize the plants as their huge flowers open, and as the sturdy stalks grow quickly, turn the pot to keep the stalks heading straight up.

Amaryllis can be planted outside in zones 8 or 9 to 11, after the holidays, or kept indoors in their pots, for blooms the following year.

Planting time is the key to when flowers will appear. Dutch Amaryllis bloom six to eight weeks after planting and South African Amaryllis bloom in four to six weeks. Favorite South African varieties include Twinkle Twinkle Holiday Star, also called Star of Holland, which blooms in glorious red with a white star in the center, Lemon Lime in a rare delicate lime color, Candy Floss with deep rose pink flowers, and the pure white of Al Fresco. Merry Christmas Amaryllis is the most popular Amaryllis in Europe, with red velvet blooms that are eight inches across, on twelve inch tall stems. From its name alone, who could resist adding the red Merry Christmas to their home? Spectacular Dutch Amaryllis include the gorgeous red and white striped Clown or Candy Cane, Minerva with its white centers and red edges, Red Lion with its bold cherry color, and the refreshing pink Rozetta. A new Dutch Amaryllis is Dancing Queen, with white double flowers streaked with red, that measure eight inches across and Grand Cru has the deepest burgundy blooms that can be imagined, on twenty four inch tall stems.

I bought my Candy Cane bulb and a blue glazed pot at a local nursery, which gave me a nice selection of colors. You can also buy from a large array of online and catalog nurseries. John Scheepers 860 567 0838 www.johnscheepers.com, White Flower Farm 800 503 9624 www.whiteflowerfarm.com, Park Seed Company 800 213-0076 www.parkseed.com and Blooming Bulb 800 648 2852 www.bloomingbulb.com are excellent sources.

I have included many more Green Thumb Christmas Tips in the brand new book I co-authored, "Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts: Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday." Leafwood Publishers. www.Christmas-Scrapbook.info 1 877 816 4455 toll free

Terra Hangen writes numerous devotionals and articles on prayer, gardening, faith, nature and wildlife. Her publishing history includes national print and online publications such as Vibrant Life, Dog Fancy, Lutheran Digest, Flower and Garden, and Hobby Farms and an essay in the Rainy Day Book. Terra and her family enjoy living on the Monterey Bay in California.

You can learn more about Terra on her blog 'http://tinyurl.com/5v9aaq