Ka Pow

Return of the Red Lion Amaryllis

After a day of errands last Saturday, Kevin and I treated ourselves to dinner at a Thai restaurant. I ordered a yummy tofu and veggie dish with a nondescript name and Kevin ordered the special of the day - Ka Pow - a super spicy entree, with a cartoony name. It definitely attracted Kevin, and with his love of spicy foods, and cartoons!, it was a winner :)

Kevin's dinner entree's name is also the perfect description for the second coming of my amaryllis flowers. This is the first time I'd ever tried to bring an amaryllis bulb back to life. After it finished blooming last year, I followed through with all the necessary steps to encourage it to bloom again. These steps included cutting back the spent flower stalks, keeping the remaining green leaves well watered and the plant indoors until it was warm enough to place it outside on the patio for more intense sunshine. Right before the first frost last fall, I cut the leaves back and put the potted bulb in the shed. A few weeks before Christmas, I removed the top layer of soil around the dormant bulb and replaced it with fresh soil, brought it indoors and watered it. By Christmas it had sprouted again. Like magic, it went through the same progression of growth as it did last year until today when it's blooms opened wide into giant, shiny, red, eye-popping flowers - Ka Pow!!!