It will bloom in its own time. The only thing you can do to speed things up is to give it the proper care required.

IME, once an amaryllis bulb has produced leaves, it is reluctant to flower. Leaves appear after flowering, not before.

What everybody else said, thumbs up. But my experience differs wildly from gargengal48, in that I'd say some 75-80% of my plants always produce leaves first. Maybe even more, I just don't want to exaggerate. I have only one plant out of 20 this year that is actually sending up two bloom stalks first, but the leaves have also already begun.

All of these bulbs vary a little bit in their growth habits. Don't worry, it will be fine.

Maybe it sat there too long before you bought it? So the timing is off, and the plant is confused. They time these to be dormant so they bloom before the end of the year.

Don't they normally grow "naked" flowers, then leaves?

Don't they normally grow "naked" flowers, then leaves?

Personally I see this and also leaves first...enough of a split that I don't think there is really a 'normal'.

I wonder if someone from more southern climes can add to this? All of our potted bulbs are kind of running to an artificial clock, whereas areas where they are grown outdoors experience a more natural cycle. I remember Texas plantings which would die back for winter and then bloom in spring, and I think both foliage and flowers would come up at the same time. I've talked to someone in Florida who grows them and he said they bloom better if they get a little cold in order to trigger dormancy, and he also mentioned some people who dig them for a few weeks to dry them out, and then replant them... so I guess either way counts as a dormancy.

All together maybe "I don't think there is really a normal" might be the safest way to go. Today's amaryllis are hybrids who might just do whatever they want, and some even descend from evergreen species so there's that as well.

Interesting though, and I think I might repot mine today and see if I can start a few of them on their way for the year!

I'm having the same problem with an amaryllis, leaves growing instead a bud. I received two amaryllis as Christmas gifts, Marquis (white, double bloom) and Ferrari (red, single). Marquis has two stalks with buds, and Ferrari has leaves that just keep growing. These are the first amaryllis I've had and I was hoping to see both of them bloom.

Woodrose, it's not a problem, it's just the way any bulb may grow. Almost all of my bulbs send leaves first, and flower buds maybe up to 2-4 weeks after the leaves. I have no experience with Marquis, but Ferrari is a wonderfully vigorous plant and I am absolutely positive it will bloom for you, probably with two stalks (not necessarily at the same time and personally I prefer it if the 2nd stalk comes a few weeks later, to extend the bloom season) if it was a good-sized bulb to start with. Watch for a sort of "fat tip" to begin emerging somewhere along the side of the bulb by the leaves.

It's almost impossible to guarantee that two different amaryllis bulbs, planted at the same time, are going to bloom at the same time. They all have different genetics. I have at least 15 different named varieties, and they all behave slightly differently even though for the sake of efficiency I tend to treat all of them the same. (Every year I tell myself that I'm going to repot them a few at a time so as to extend the bloom period, but every year I can't face the mess it makes of my kitchen - I have to do this in early winter - so I end up doing them all at once, over the course of 2-3 days.) They still seem to all bloom at different times.

I have one right now that's sending up THREE bloom stalks and not much for leaves yet! And most of the rest with half-grown leaves, up to 8-9 per pot, that are just barely starting to stick up bloom stalks. It's just really variable.

Your patience will no doubt be rewarded. :)

Joan

Thank you, Joan ! I really wanted to see some beautiful red blooms on Ferrari, and I was so afraid it would just keep growing leaves and never bloom. Now, thanks to you I can relax and wait to see what happens. Again, thank you so much for your help !