Saturday, February 12, 2011

Flower Sex

I think I need to find my boyfriend a hobby.

In November I bought an amarylis bulb and planted it indoors. It bloomed right after Christmas and had two gorgeous red and white striped blooms.

I know after it blooms and the blooms die you're supposed to cut it back so it can regenerate the nutrients and bloom the following year.

But I was lazy. I kept forgetting to cut it even though it sits in the living room and I saw it every day. Almost two weeks went past and then I noticed something odd. Underneath one of the dead blooms (that fell off a few days later) was a large bulbous growth.

I noticed this while we were watching tv and mentioned it to J. "Oh yeah, I got bored and tried pollinating it one day."

"What? Can you be charged with forcible sex act with a flower for that? So you're a bee now, is that it? What made you decide to try that?"

"I was bored and curious."

In retrospect, I'm glad he tried it. Google revealed that an amarylis doesn't take well to pollinating itself, but if it does work you get this bulbous growth which is actually several flat black seeds. The pod will eventually crack open so you can get at the seeds.

I intend to watch this thing until it cracks and then plant the seeds under my over-zealous grow lights and start my own amarylis farm. So thanks for your boredom J!!

2 comments:

  1. Fun! I pollinated my amaryllis last week. From what I hear, it's actually pretty easy to get them to set seed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wish I head read this before I cut mine back - now I'll know next time

    ReplyDelete