Patience rewarded

Last winter, in early December I purchased an Amaryllis.   Sadly, all I got was leaves.  I tucked it away in a window for the winter and left it alone.  I was disappointed at it's inability to give me the flower that I had so anxiously awaited.

In the summer I put it outside in the garden.  I didn't have the heart to throw it away.  It continued to have green leaves and seemed to prosper outside.  Soon fall was upon us and I completely forgot about this bulb.

When we returned from Arizona in November, I finally found the time to start putting away my summer pots and I discovered my Amaryllis bulb underneath a large Hosta that had grown over it.  I was saddened to see that it had been hit quite badly by frost and all the leaves were dead.  I tried to stick my finger deep into the soil to see if the bulb had survived, but the soil was frozen.  I thought that I had killed it.

I pulled the dead leaves off the plant and put it on a shelf in my kitchen.  I figured that would be the best place to watch it.  Once it defrosted, the bulb itself didn't feel mushy so I decided to wait and see.

Before long I saw a little bit of green starting to peek out of the top of the bulb.  Was I ever excited! New growth was starting.  I hoped it would be a flower this year.  Soon I could tell that a flower was on it's way.  The stem grew and grew.  I had another Amaryllis on the shelf and before long the stem on my old bulb was well beyond it.  The stem grew to 32 inches high.  Can you believe it.

Yesterday the first flowers started to open.  It was well worth the wait.