Backyard Field Guide: Amazing Amaryllis

This winter we've decided to bring some of the backyard indoors....

After months of waiting the amaryllis are here and I'm officially hooked on 'forcing' bulbs. The weather outside is so gray and murky and yet here are these enormous flowers and leaves in my living room. You can't really tell from the images but the stems are about three and a half feet tall. I love their Greek name too: 'hippeastrum,' horseman's star. I bought my bulbs from Brent & Becky's, growers I highly recommend. These plants almost make me happy for winter and somehow I'm already looking forward to the next....

UPDATE: The dog loves the flowers too...or is it the sunlight?