February Blooms

Back before Thanksgiving of last year my sister-in-law sent me a gift.  The package was delivered while I was out running errands, and it was left at my door.  Inside the box there was a metal pot of soil which contained amaryllis bulbs.  I followed the enclosed directions.  I watered it with lukewarm water and placed it near a window that receives the most light during these dark days of winter.  December came and went, and nothing had sprouted.  I continued to water it (sparingly, since the instructions said that the soil should not by soggy), but by Christmas I believed that the bulbs were dead.  Sometime in January I was surprised to see that stalks with bulbous buds had suddenly appeared.  The stalks are now quite tall, leaning toward the sun, and beginning to bloom.