Hippeastrum Sleeping Beauty

Amaryllis 'Sleeping Beauty' is a brand new variety of hippeastrum that prioritises the number of flowers over their size, while offering a contrasting colour scheme in red and white. In this Hippeastrum, one bulb will produce up to 4 flowering stems, each carrying up to 4 trumpet-shaped flowers, each measuring less than 12 cm (5in) in diameter. Stunning in a pot, where it will bloom around Christmas, this plant can also be planted in the ground in protected gardens along the Mediterranean coast.

Originally from subtropical regions of Central and South America, Hippeastrum are frost-sensitive plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, generally grown in pots in our latitudes. The Sleeping Beauty variety, registered in 2019, belongs to the group of hummingbird Amaryllis, which are characterised by small flowers. In full bloom, the plant forms a clump 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) tall and 30 cm (12in) wide. It offers very round, thick and fleshy, iridescent flowers. The flower is composed of overlapping rounded petals, bright red in colour, adorned with a white spot in the centre. The heart of the flower is yellow and lime green, with a bouquet of long curved stamens. 2 or 3 thick and hollow flowering stems emerge from the bulb, almost simultaneously. The leaves are ribbon-like, medium green, slightly shiny. They turn yellow and then dry out a few weeks after flowering.

Planting an Amaryllis is very rewarding. Hippeastrum is very easy to grow and its growth is extremely rapid; 6 to 10 weeks after planting, the flowers bloom. You can enjoy them throughout the winter. To give it as a Christmas gift, consider planting it at the beginning of November. The Sleeping Beauty variety does not need companions to showcase its obvious beauty. You can plant a few simple snowdrop bulbs at its base, just to dress up its slightly rigid flowering stems. Preferably expose it to sun, in a window for example. Trim the stem when the flowers fade to promote re-flowering.

Amaryllis is actually a misnomer directly related to an error made in the 18th century. It was Linnaeus himself who used it to name the American species. However, the name was already used for another South African plant. The name Amaryllis has been retained for both and to distinguish them, Hippeastrum is added to the first one and Belladona to the second. It must be admitted that both deserve this name: Amaryllis means 'sparkling' and, in classical Greek literature, the plant has been the subject of a pastoral poem where the beautiful shepherdess Amaryllis dies of a love that will only be accessible to her after a terrible wound.