Amaryllis bulbs need a good six to eight weeks to come into full flower. So work backwards from when you want them to bloom to figure out when to get them going.

Most people try to time their amaryllis for a Christmas bloom, but I find them more welcome in January or February, when the Christmas greenery is long gone.

When I dug mine up and brought the bulbs inside last month, I wrote a long post with lots of info on amaryllis and how to care for them.

Here are my four bulbs, with dead foliage cut back and new dirt added to the pot.

Finding amaryllis bulbs beyond basic Christmas red has gotten a lot easier in recent years.

If you’re looking for big blooms (up to 8 inches across) atop really strong stems, the ‘Hercules’ variety is a surefire winner.

(photo courtesy of www.logees.com)

The saturated reddish-pink flowers of this large bulb have fine magenta veining.

In most cases, the Dutch-grown ‘Hercules’ bulb produces two 16- to 18-inch flower stems with 3 to 4 blooms each.

You want to keep amaryllis bulbs in small pots so that they concentrate their energy on making big blooms instead of roots. Keep about one-third of the bulb exposed above the soil and water it in thoroughly when you first pot it up. In general, you don’t need to water it again until green shoots begin to appear.

When the first growth appears, move the plant to a sunny site and keep it well watered until it blooms. Once the blooms open, move it to indirect light to make the flowers last longer.

Mail-order sources for ‘Hercules’ include Wayside Gardens, Logee’s and Bulbs Direct.

Truth be told, I don’t really like amaryllis very much—too big and gaudy, too much like orchids. But these bulbs were gifts and I can’t bear to murder them (yet).