As much as one might try, getting the bulbs to bloom exactly when you want them too is rather difficult as each bulb does seem have a mind of its own. The best way to be sure to get flowers for Christmas is to buy a new bulb several weeks before as these bulbs are primed by the experts to bloom for the holidays. This of course is just my opinion....;-) Donna

It is also possible that it bloomed before you bought it. The $2 price tag makes me think you got it in the after-Christmas sale. Many, many bulbs bloom in the box between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Haven't you ever seen the scapes shooting out the top of the box or zigzagged back in forth in the tiny little compartment? The store employees cut off the blooms sticking out the top of the box, put the bulb back in the box and sell it for $2 in the after-Christmas sale. Nothing lost - it's not like the store could have stopped it from blooming - and the bulb will bloom again. Carol

Hi betsy! Yes you can do that although that is not a guarantee that it will produce a scape and bloom for you. It all depends on the condition of the bulb before it was put to rest. In my experience, if the amaryllis has given out at least 8 healthy leaves before it was put to rest at the right temp., MOST of the time it will give out a bloom once you wake it up. If I understood it right, it takes an amaryllis scape 18 months to form inside the bulb to blooming. If during those months the bulb got sick or was not given the proper care (sun,fertilizer,soil), then the flower scape inside the bulb COULD be affected. Anyway, general rule is 8 weeks of rest and 6-8 weeks to bloom. This time schedule can vary according to plant variety and your growing environment too. Hope that helps and someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Good Luck and hope you have a Christmas bloom to cheer you up during the holidays!

The plants known as Holiday Cactus, Lobster Cactus, Xmas Cactus, Sunrise Cactus, and many other names, belong to several genera of jungle cacti but can generally be treated alike. All are true cactus plants, some have small spines in the aeroles, and the flowers grow on last year's growth. These plants are generally segmented and flat, and roots form between the segments for easy propagation. These plants come from the jungles of Central and South America and therefore cannot store water like their cousins from the deserts can. Instead, they rely on almost daily rains, and enter a semi-dormancy period when the short dry season comes. For most of the species concerned, this dry season occurs in the short-day period so that the combination of short days and cooler nights leaves these plants drier but not dessicated. The soils of these usually epiphytic plants consists of decayed leaves, insects, pieces of bark, etc., generally anything the wind or birds leave in the crotches of the trees or on the ground below. In cultivation, the stone/gravel/sand mix for desert cacti is supplanted by peat/leafmold/loam for these. The difference is high organic matter, the similatity is that both kinds of cacti need well -draining mixes. Once the right soil has been given, it is important to note that full sun in the summer is not a good idea in most places, but that some sun is needed. When the days grow short (Sep/Oct in northern hemisphere), water sparingly, giving the plant about 6 weeks of a cooler, drier regimen. This period will induce bloom, especially if the diurnal range is in the 20-30 degree F range, something hard to do in the average home. Although some thought can be given to shading the plants from bright lights at night, this does not seem as critical as the rest period. More important is to shelter the plant from dry winds (heating ducts), changing the environment once buds have set, and ethylene gas (from plastics, propane heaters and ripening fruit). Any of these three conditions can cause the falling off of the flower buds, commonly called bud blast. The small roots of these cacti are not equipped to deal with drought, and the stems have adapted to living in the shade cast by their tree hosts. Given even a rough approximation of their jungle home they will bloom in a panoply of colors, in season, every year.