Sibling Rivalry

Everything is just different as we enter the second year of the pandemic. Some businesses have thrived and others have not. For the most part, all things plant related have sold incredibly well as people look to enrich their more home-bound lifestyles. Living in an expensive part of the world, Emaryllis has found that local nurseries that are here are thriving, but the value of the land they occupy has seen more and more closures over the last few years. Finding a decent variety of amaryllis bulbs (and kits) has become that much more challenging. Cue the mail-order plant companies. Only rarely has E purchased kits online, but it offers a simple solution for diversifying our Bulb Kit Bonanza without driving great distances. These two arrived just a few days after ordering…very convenient! Though they are packed by the same Dutch wholesaler, they are of different stripes, and sold at different price points. Will the more pedigreed $20 offering rival its more modest $15 sibling? Only time will tell, but let’s look at what one gets by spending a few more bucks on a kit form the same supplier.

While the ‘Vera’ kit might have been available for lower pricing elsewhere, the $15 asking price is still better than the majority of kits sold via mail order. It also seems like an intermediate kit, not quite as spare as the ones found at big box stores for under $10. It has a built-in handle to prove it!

Speaking of built-in handles…

Coming in at $20, ‘Exotic Peacock’ could be a fine value if it comes true to type. Emaryllis has serious doubts as this cultivar is often substituted.

OK, let’s start unboxing! First up, the humble ‘Vera’ kit shows no sprouting out at all, a great start.

The kit looks promising. Just seeing all of those live, fleshy roots is enough to make an amaryllis fan swoon! The heavyweight paper kept the bulb secured and also kept it from overly drying, while also not allowing moisture build up. The bulb rests on a soft pillow of premixed potting media.

Ugh! The one thing that Emaryllis cannot accept, a pot with no drainage. The funny thing is that the pot is the exact same 5″/13cm square one used in our ‘White Christmas’ kit. It is not too thin or lightweight, but is white instead of terra cotta colored, which cheapens it a smidge imho. It has perforation marks for the drain holes, but they were never punched, and no matching snap-on saucer was included (well, you don’t need one for a drain-less pot, do you?). The bulb itself measures 27.5cm circumference, on the larger size of its 26/28cm designation. Things are looking up for ‘Vera’ as making holes in the bottom of the pot will take only seconds.

Alright, so does the ‘Exotic Peacock’ kit have any issues? Let’s take a look!

Our ‘Exotic Peacock’ kit looks even more promising! A clean, firm bulb that measures 28.5 cm, well within the spec size of 28/30cm stated on the carton. The roots are also very, very good…fleshy and ready to branch out and start taking up moisture. The coir disc isn’t unusual, but they are just as often found in the cheapest of kits. We’ll stay neutral on that one. The premium nature of this kit is seen in the 5″/13cm cylindrical pot. It has superb drainage holes. It is reasonably sturdy, and is printed with a motif of questionably tasteful Dutch stereotypes in the style of Delft pottery. Still, it is not plain Jane (or plain Vera in this case) and is in keeping with the “vintage” box design. It includes a snap-on saucer that effectively gives the pot a larger surface area which will be needed as the sprouts gain height and weight. There is a top mounted retainer as well. It kept the bulb extra steady in the box, but Emaryllis doesn’t like them after that. They disallow monitoring the moisture content of the media, and can’t be removed once growth becomes substantial. It will be recycled. All-in-all though, this is a very complete kit.

Poor, poor ‘Vera’, she is left without enough media to grow in. Having never seen such a dramatic shortfall in one of these kits, one must wonder if this is the case with just a few of these kits, or all of them. Once again, being an experienced grower helps, and there is plenty of potting media on hand here at the ranch. This was a bitter pill though, and we are at two strikes against our ‘Vera’ kit.

Meanwhile, our ‘Exotic Peacock’ kit continues to impress…

Just as it is highly unusual to have nowhere near enough media provided in a kit, it is just as rare to have a notable overage. But that is what we have here. Even if the bulb had been the smallest size claimed (28cm) it would have made little difference. Once settled in, the bulb is somewhat snug in its pot, but still definitely a good match to the pot size. If this kit had been potted first, it could have made up for the shortage in its sibling’s pot easily!

Though ‘Vera’ has gotten off to a rougher start than her exotic sister, the bulb to pot size ratio is deemed just right, and we look forward to those warm, rosy blooms in time. Maybe, just maybe she’ll manage an upset!

December 24, the night before Christmas, and in one sibling was creating a stirring sight! A tall and strong scape is bearing two beautiful, fully double flowers of red oops…rather orange and white. Wasn’t this supposed to be deep red and white? You guessed it, the all-to-familiar sight of a mislabeled amaryllis bulb. No ‘Exotic Peacock’ which has been hard to find, but a common (yet nice) double with somewhat different coloration. Sigh.

You would think that having such a wonderful show to enjoy on Christmas would bring nothing but unbridled joy. But this is one of those laugh/cry moments when you realize that you’ve been duped, yet what you have in front of you is really quite lovely. The bulb was well timed, and the performance looks pretty fantastic. But of course, we have a caveat or three. For one thing, the tall (18″/46cm) scape and lush foliage are missing something…a second scape! If we have to settle for a mislabel situation, we should at least get stellar performance, right? Certainly ‘Dancing Queen’ is capable of that.

While we are settling into the idea that the more pricey kit has dealt us a little disappointment in terms of labeling and performance, our rival ‘Vera’ kit is just a few days behind, and really kicking butt!

Though our ‘Vera’ kit tried to open for Christmas, it only managed to open one flower halfway. But just a few days later, she is in her glory! Except for one thing, “she” is not ‘Vera’, but rather our old friend ‘Red Lion’.

While we smart from the hurt of realizing that our ‘Vera’ kit didn’t deliver in terms of proper labeling, we are getting a very fine performance that does deliver some value. On the 20th of December we have a scape (20.5″/52cm tall) opening four scarlet red flowers (7″/18cm across), and a second scape promising a continued show into 2022. The foliage makes the whole presentation into a living floral arrangement. Alongside its (also mislabeled) sibling, we have two kits that really do beam brightly over the winter holidays. Not a bad consolation!

The holidays have past, and the dark days of winter are just beginning to lengthen. While our (not ‘Exotic Star’)/ ‘Dancing Queen’ has just seen its third and last flower fade, (not ‘Vera’) ‘Red Lion is giving its best effort. The fact that the individual flowers of ‘Dancing Queen’ offered a bit of solace considering that it will not produce a second scape. The bummer with our copy of ‘Red Lion’ is that both scapes have only produced three flowers. Though the kit was less expensive, six total flowers of an incorrect variety does not add up to a good value.

So, I guess we have a wrap. Can I choose one as better than the other? Not in this case. Both were disappointing in terms of total bloom count, and neither was labeled correctly. A milder rebuke would be in order if the boxes simply featured photos with no cultivar names called out. The double might have passes as ‘close enough’ to the photo for most folks. The warm pink that bloomed red? No pass at all, despite the welcome sight through the holidays of the familiar old standby that is ‘Red Lion’

Has Emaryllis just had it with these kits? While these two didn’t add up to a good monetary value considering what the kits advertised, they still produced some well-timed and cheery blooms in the dullest days of winter. We can’t give them high marks, but we can hope for better results in the future. Until next season, keep the faith!