The Amaryllis Bloom
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I wish I could show you what I am looking at right now! It is a gorgeous double bloom bright orange amaryllis! Here is the story behind it.
Over the years, I have received several amaryllis kits at Christmas parties, and they have always bloomed the first year. They are truly stunning flowers.
In order to get them to bloom again, you need to stop watering them and let their leaves die back, cut them, and then store the bulb in a dark basement until the following year. Every fall, I bring my bulbs back upstairs and faithfully water and fertilize them.
And every year, what do I get a beautiful showing of? Dark green leaves! No blooms! This past winter, I brought up one pot and did my usual routine.
However, I neglected to bring up the second pot and left it there all winter, spring, and into summer. Last week, while in my basement, I moved something and noticed a long white stem growing out of the amaryllis pot.
This white stem had some sacs growing at the end of it.
I was shocked because the plant had been in almost complete darkness down there and had no water for almost a year. I brought the pot upstairs and exposed the plant to some indirect sunlight and watered it. In one day, the stem started to green up, and the first bloom began to open. By day two, that bloom was almost entirely opened.
I gave it a little more sunlight, and within four days, the second bloom had opened, new leaves were sprouting, and everything had become a beautiful hue of green.
It was putting on a spectacular show.
Most of us have a loved one we have been praying over for many years.
Sometimes it appears that they are living in the darkness, down in the basement, so to speak. But sometimes, a little light shines in, and there is the smallest glimmer of growth. Then, when the time is right, in God’s own time, they are ready to be exposed to the Sonlight. Before you know it, miraculously, they are thriving and ready to bloom.
Do not give up on praying, and remember that God has not forgotten them in the dark. He sees them, loves them, and will take care of them.
He will even remind you they are there, so you can participate in the miracle!
Diane McLean Gaspard
