Growing Amaryllis: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 20, 2026
Most people meet amaryllis as a bulb in a box at Christmas. It is also a garden plant, in a narrow band of the country.
The name is wrong, and everyone uses it anyway
The bulbs sold as amaryllis are Hippeastrum. The true genus Amaryllis is a different South African plant. The trade name has been in use so long that correcting it helps nobody, so we list it the way you will see it on the label.
Hardy in zones 7 to 10 only
NC State Extension gives the range as 7a through 10b. Inside it, the bulb can live in the ground and flower each spring. Outside it, this is the plant you force indoors in winter and then either discard or move outside for the summer once frost has passed.
It grows one to three feet tall and nine to twelve inches wide, and each flowering lasts three to four weeks. Full sun or partial shade.
The bulb is the poisonous part
Rated medium poison severity, with the bulb the most toxic part. Large ingestions cause vomiting and diarrhoea, and at higher doses convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and cardiac arrhythmias. It is listed as hazardous to cats, dogs and horses as well as people.
The practical point is about storage as much as planting. A bulb sitting in a paper bag in a cupboard is more findable by a curious dog than one already in the ground.
Our planner treats it as a bulb rather than a seed crop, so the buy-seeds guidance elsewhere on the site does not apply.
Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Hippeastrum.
Companion planting guide for Amaryllis · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 7-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 1-3 ft
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. It doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
When to plant amaryllis, by zone
Every zone amaryllis grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Bloom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7a & 7b | Not usually | Apr 17–Apr 24 | First real harvest the season after planting |
| 8a & 8b | Not usually | Apr 1–Apr 8 | First real harvest the season after planting |
| 9a & 9b | Not usually | Feb 22–Mar 1 | First real harvest the season after planting |
| 10a & 10b | Not usually | Feb 6–Feb 13 | First real harvest the season after planting |
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Amaryllis plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-3 ft.
Where to buy amaryllis bulbs
We haven't vetted bulb/tuber suppliers yet. Our seed-supplier list doesn't carry these.
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing amaryllis" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Amaryllis: The winter forcing bulb, hardy outdoors only in zones 7 to 10, and named after a genus it does not belong to.
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