Heads up, the Lowe's by me got new displays last week. $3.98 for bulb only-Desire, Oskar, Star of Holland,Susan Apple Blossom and another one $9.98 kits-either a lined box with lid or a ceramic square pot-aphrodite, Danau, Lady jane, Apple Blossom, Denver, Pasadena, prince Carnival, Vera The Texas City lowe's had sold out all of the $3.98 bulbs except a couple, the Lowe's on 646 had not taken the shrink wrap off the display yet. Bulbs about the same size in all boxes. Same company as last year, should be interesting to see what grows. Tally HO!

Here are some quick responses to your specific questions. I always like to point out that we do have an FAQ that answers most questions, but can be overwhelming!! Re: dormancy - they don't have to be cold, but dry and cooler, so bring it in in Sept when it starts to cool down, and stop watering it. Let the leaves yellow and dry out, then cut them down (or grow as evergreen per Donna...but you asked about dormancy, so I'm telling you what my pal in NH does). You can cut the neck straight across where the leaves came out just to keep in clean. Dust it with cinnamon (a good antifungal) and set the pot in the coolest part of your apt out of sunlight. Wait 6-8 weeks and bring the pot out. Give it a good watering and set it in a sunny window and it should bloom again for you. Keep in mind this summer you should be giving it a good all purpose fertilizer on a regular basis. Several here us 1/2 strength MiracleGro or similar. I wouldn't do any packing to insulate it as you suggest, as it needs to "breathe" and you don't want rot or fungus! My bulbs in the greenhouse never get cooler than 45F. The bulbs on the heated enclosed porch never go below 40F. The bulbs in the ground get covered with leaves and they do fine with the occasional freeze we get here. I am so glad you love the blooms! Makes it easy to understand why many of us are so passionate about our bulbs! (and we cringe when we hear some of the horror stories posted!) Kristi

Summer care is the ticket for amaryllis. Back in the day, lots of folks kept theirs after blooming in the brightest window they had and when the foliage yellowed out, allow the pots to dry off and then put them in a dark, unheated attic, until they were brought out for the next Christmas. Some oldtimers I have seen had a dozen pots they had accumulated over the years. Most people simply discard them when they are done flowering which is a pity. I have planted the bulbs out in the spring after all frost has passed and repotted them later for Christmas, although one has to be careful to get the timing right. If you unpot them to plant them out for the summer, you will have a chance to remove the babies when you dig the dormant bulbs. I have also seen bulbs get potted up into larger pots with the babies still attached. They still need to have their roots crowded though. Some of those pots may carry several bulbs blooming at once. That is a sight to see, but it takes more than a little work, a definite amount of skill and patience and a generous amount of luck.

Some amaryllis are easier to grow from year to year than others, and I think that which varieties depend upon your climate. A number of the large flowered ones didn't like my growing conditions. H. papilio is fairly easy to grow from year to year. My favorite is 'La Paz' although I haven't tried any of the other cybisters. I was disappointed the first year when it shot up a couple of stems with comparatively small flowers, but each year since it has produced more and more flowers and now I love it. It's just starting this year. This was last year (2017): The first year (2012) wasn't very impressive, but you can see the beginnings of the show to come by the little grassy leaves at the bottom: Is it worth the effort to grow them from year to year? In this case, you could probably get a similar display by planting 6 or 7 bulbs in a single pot, but I find it very rewarding to grow the bulbs from year to year. Particularly when the buds start shooting out of the bulbs. I used to have 6 different varieties that I would grow from year to year, but it was too much of a hassle when rushing to bring them in when the weather threatened to freeze. I have a lot of other gardening chores and a full time job to do and a life to live also. Now I'm down to 3 varieties and it is manageable. Each pot is 12" or more. I don't force them to bloom for Christmas. I find that there is not enough sunlight in my house to keep them happy in the months that follow before the weather warms up, and the leaves stretch and break. My amaryllis are waking up now, and starting to bloom. In another month they will be done, and the weather will be warm enough to put them outdoors, in full sunlight. There they stay through the summer, with regular watering and irregular fertilizing. As a pointer, don't fertilize too much at once, or the leaves will stretch and be very weak. One windy day can snap off those weak leaves, and the leaves are what you need to make flowers. The more leaves you get and the longer they stay on, with as much sunlight as they want, the more flowers you will get. If I was more attentive, I would fertilize with 1/4 strength fertilizer, once a week, but I'm lucky to fertilize them once a month. I leave them out until there is a frost warning, and then they go into the garage by the window, and I totally ignore them. Over the winter, most of the leaves turn yellow (it's quite attractive because a lot of the leaves turn a glowing yellow at once), then dry up. I don't water them at all until 4 or 5 months later, when I see some buds peeking out, I bring them into the house and water them. Such a joy to see the stems shooting up, a visible difference from day to day. By the way, the flowers will also last longer if you keep the plants cool. When my plants bloom outdoors, they flowers last up to 3 weeks. I also grow Clivia, thinking that it would be easier than lugging pots of amaryllis in and out of the house (they don't need or want intense sunlight so can stay inside all year) but I haven't found them to be quite as exciting. So now I have both.