After 4 years, woman’s amaryllis blossoms

This Mother’s Day, Mary Pietz received an unexpected gift from Mother Nature.

The amaryllis flower she bought had finally bloomed, more than four years after she got it.

“I was shocked that it just sprouted up,” she said. “Mother’s Day was coming up and it bloomed for me.”

She bought the flower from Beadle’s Nursery in the winter expecting it to bloom in the spring, as they normally do, Pietz said. She left it in the basement during the winter and brought it upstairs in the spring. Although, she was told by Beadle’s that it’s an indoor houseplant, she would even take it outside during the summer in the hopes that it would bloom.

Pietz said she repeated this pattern for four years, but no matter what she would do, it never bloomed. Until now.

The amaryllis flower that she held up proudly was more than two feet tall (she measured it at 26 inches) with dark red petals that were about the size of her hand.

Pietz said it almost looked like a lily because it was so much bigger than usual. The average Amaryllis that is sold in nurseries and flower shops typically grows about a foot tall, she said. Her flower took a lot longer to bloom, but when it did, it grew at an incredible rate, Pietz said.

“Beadle’s said ‘sometimes they can go crazy,’ ” Pietz said. “Well this is going crazy.” She said with a laugh as she looked up at the flower.