Ivory Swan Amaryllis Bulbs — Pure White Double, Extra-Large Blooms

Most white amaryllis are ivory, or green-throated, or faintly dirty at the base. This one stays white through all its layers and opens to a head that will not fit in a small vase. It is the hardest of the range to photograph badly and the one florists ask for.

What you get

• One bulb per count ordered, 26/28 cm circumference — large enough to throw two stems.
• The biggest head here — eight to nine inches across when fully open, on a stem thick enough to hold it.
• Two stems, four to six blooms each, opening in sequence so a single bulb flowers for five or six weeks.
• Boxed in kraft card with a planting card, not loose in a mailer.

Planting

• Pot: a 6–7 in pot per bulb, two-thirds soil, one-third bulb above the rim — amaryllis sulk when they are buried.
• Water: soak once at planting, then keep the mix just damp. Wet soil around the bulb is the usual reason a big bulb never opens.
• Light: The brightest spot you have; white goes cream in shade — a south or west window, or a grow light for 12 hours a day.
• Root in the dark first: 2–3 weeks in a cool, darkish room gets roots down before the stem runs up.
• Stake it early. A double this heavy leans, and it will not straighten again once the flowers open.
• Do not crowd it. With no color to distract the eye, any brown tip or torn petal shows.

After the flowers

• Cut stems at bud stage for the vase; they open white indoors and stay white.
• Handle the petals by the base — white bruises visibly.

Bulbs ship dormant and firm, 26/28 cm around, boxed to protect the nose. Orders leave in 5–7 working days; 8–25 working days in transit. Petal color shifts a little with light and temperature — the cooler the room, the deeper the bloom.