By many, Amaryllis is normally thought of as a Christmas Holiday plant.

However, a couple of my plants have reverted back to their normal blooming time (March to May) when Amaryllis are grown naturally outside in a warmer climate. Last Spring, I had every good intention to let my Christmas Amaryllis stay outside for the warm months, fertilize heavily, and then, allow the bulbs to rest in the fall. That all encourages blooms in the following season.

Unfortunately, Amaryllis leaves and bulbs are quite poisonous. When we got baby Bella (who will chew on any/and everything that she finds), I moved my Amaryllis from outdoors to back into a safe corner of the Solar Room where Bella couldn't reach them. Other than occasionally water them, I then forgot them. No fertilizer, no resting the bulb, nothing special.

Still, two of my 5 Amaryllis plants are again putting out May flowers. For the second straight year. The other 3 seem to be only growing leaves; which is not uncommon when people try to get their house plant Amaryllis to bloom again but do the wrong things with their care. Since I did not do anything special - and even somewhat neglected the Amaryllis - I'm surprised that I now have lovely blooms.

Two of three plants that aren't currently blooming now did bloom last Winter for the holidays. Since those didn't get the proper care either, that was a pleasant surprise. The third one bloomed last July!!! That was way out of "normal" season! But it had bloomed in July before. So maybe July is that plant's normal season. All are potted plants.

What is unique about this particular bloom is that all/or parts of the filaments (that hold the pollen bearing anthers) are ingrown into the flower petals. The stigma (female receptor of the pollen) also never properly developed. It remains tightly curled close to the center of the bloom. I've never seen something like that before. This flower is a reproductive mutant and most probably sterile. Interesting. However, despite its problems, the flower is still pretty. Its inability to reproduce via seeds hasn't changed that.