Question
My partner had an amarylis bulb given her for christmas and it grew rapidly with six leaves and three stems, two of which had 4 blooms and the other 2, it was beautiful however the blooms didn't last very long, but the leaves are still lush. We wondered if we should have cut the leaves off to extend the lofe of the blooms and noticed on a visit to the RHS gardens at Wisley that their Amarylis in the greenhouse did not have any leaves.I read an answer you gave regarding the renewal of the bulb. Am  right in assuming that if the leaves are cut off that the blooms last longer and the bulb cannot be renewed. Kind regards Brian

Answer
Brian,

You do not cut the leaves off to make the flower last longer. The reason the plants in the greenhouse had no leaves was that in a full sun, cool night habitat that it gets in a greenhouse it produces the flower first and as the flower fades the leaves grow.  That is the ideal environment for amarylis bulbs. They love full sun, not over 65 degrees during the day and down to 55 degrees at night. They grow in Florida and bloom outside this time of year in even cooler temperatures and the blooms last for weeks.  The key to a long lasting bloom is to keep the plant cooler and in a veery sunny location.

Now that the blooms are gone if you want it to bloom again in the future do not cut the leaves off. Fertilize the plant weekly with blooming plant fertilizer and put it in the sunniest window you have. When the temperatures are above 50 degrees at night set the potted plant outdoors in a full sun location and continue fertilizing. It will naturally die back when it is ready to go dormant or you can cut the leaves off and force dormancy about 4 months before you want it to bloom again. Then follow the instructions you read in my earlier posting. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene