Yes, you did read that correctly. I know I should probably say hippeastrum, and I know some people dislike bulbs of the forced, indoor, showy kind, BUT . . .
I don’t know how you feel, but from where I’m standing looking outwards at the world, it seems that January has not got off to the best start. I think we could all do with something light and bright, blowsy, and joyful . . .
. . . something like the amaryllis I’ve just grown – which is a blowsy, joyful thing indeed!
With it’s massive, look-at-me trumpet flowers in a luminous here-I-am pinkish-red, I find this gloriously blooming, loud and shouty amaryllis a powerful antidote to the start of 2026 . . .
. . . and I love Tom’s photographs of it glowing defiantly amidst the January gloom.
For me, the only thing that might improve the joyful nature of Tom’s amaryllis photos is the addition of a dog . . .
A dog, you say?
Yes, a dog.
or even two dogs?
Two dogs and an amaryllis . . .
What we all need more of in January, 2026.
Discover more from KDD & Co
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Love it! Love it ! Love it!
Gorgeous! My stripey pink n white amaryllis is way behind and only a single bud still. Our 9 month old black lab is equally cute tho!
I love amaryllis for the January joy they bring, especially the bright ones. And yes, with two dogs is even better. Thank you so much for sharing that in this very difficult January……
Comforting as well as inspiring!!!
Makes one question “how can that be” ???
Amaryllis and dogs. Perfection.
Hi Kate, We got an unexpected present: finally some winter again. First snow and now some frost. I feel very happy and sad at the same time: my paper wrote: for some 5-6 year old kids this is the first real snow they had (true for my grandson) and for some of us this will be the last snow they will see.
Yes, but it is so beautiful. And yesterday almost the whole country had a lot of Aurora borealis.
Regards, Titia
Titia Meuwese
Thank you for this! Nature’s beauty and kind-hearted creatures are much needed!
❤️
thank you- love this
Kate…That flower feels like a small sun on the page. So shiny, so bright, it quietly lifts the mood without trying too hard. Beautiful capture.
We certainly need bright joyful colours these days. Here in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada) we’ve had many grey and snowy days beginning in early December this year. When you add 2 beautiful dogs into the picture with the Amaryllis, it’s a good mood booster. Enjoy colour anywhere you can get it! Thanks for the pictures!!
I too grow Amaryllises for precisely the same reasons – to brighten up this time of year. You know they can be persuaded to come back & flower in subsequent years if you feed them up as the flowers fade.
BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time also suggested repotting the bulbs in decent compost, rather than the ‘dust’ (their word) they tend to come with in the ‘Plant Your Own’ that come in boxes.
And congratulations to your amazing dogs that you still have such a glorious amaryllis intact, in an intact pot! May it continue to bring you joy for many days yet. And the dogs for many years to come.
Sharon
>
love this tonic
I love this post! We need more blowsiness all around!
Thank you for this lovely post! It\’s always a joy to see your plants and the dogs!Gayle (gayleywayley)
I love amaryllis. For years I\’ve bought the sad boxed-up ones left behind
A delightful image for a very cold dreary day
Great photos. Definitely provided a sprinkle of joy to this day.
Pura Vida!
I TOTALLY agree on this posting! Beautiful photos — but the ones with the dogs are spectacular! One may have to have a dog — or dogs! — to appreciate this. Count me in!
thank you ! a perfect start to the week.
Perfection!
LOVELY, dogs and flowers ??
Thistle be a beautiful day! While there is tea there is hope! ________________________________
Love them all!
Yes we do!
Love it! Very joyful
Love it! Bright colorful and joyful is also where my head is at too! Thank you for sending your brilliant and colorful joy out to me inbox❤️
thank you.
I meant to buy myself an amaryllis bulb for Christmas, but failed to do so – I picked one up this week from our local garden centre (along with a witch-hazel sapling, which I hope will give my glowing orange scented flowers in winters to come) and potted it up.
I can just about perceived a millimetre or two’s growth from the bulb now – I have apple blossom pink blooms to look forward to in a month or so’s time.
You have made me smile with an amaryllis and two dogs, the amaryllis is wonderful and the dogs are dogs which are always wonderful!
Beautiful! Mine are not blooming yet!
I love amaryllis! This is no longer the first year in a long time that I haven’t had one to lift my spirits. The 2 beautiful boys add to the joy. I’m sitting on the couch with my loving dog in rented digs in a town that is “home” for a month. My husband and I are in a condo that is so new that neither the thermostat nor the TV are connected and all the wall walls and ceilings are dazzling white, bereft of art or plants. You can imagine my joy at seeing your dogs with the glorious amaryllis.
Oh Kate! You made me smile so big and for so long. Yes, that is exactly what I need is the amaryllis and both dogs. My amaryllis did not bloom as nicely as yours and, alas, I have no dogs. Am so glad you are sharing yours.
Thank you my heart felt a small bit of happiness and I found myself smiling for the first time in a while. I appreciate this. Cute dogs and beautiful flowers!
Absolutely! More dogs, more amaryllis, more joy, more hope.
Love all the photos! As the weather is HORRIBLE in Michigan it is so wonderful to see flowers!
We definitely all need that! It is beautiful. So straight! And so many gorgeous blooms. Living this nightmare in the US. We definitely need anything bright! Thank you!!
Two dogs improve everything!
I didn’t know that I needed that, but I definitely did! Thank you so much 😊 for distributing smiles.
Definitely a “cheer you up andmake you smile” plant. The labs are also a cheerful sight.
Thanks to you both–what a beautiful variety. They are part of getting through January and February, along with knitting, and this morning it\’s -15 degrees C near Chicago. Cathy Garra
The flowers are gorgeous but my love goes to the lab!
Thank you I have not been smiling much lately.
Dear Kate,
Living in St Paul, Minnesota, those colorful pictures are just what I need.
Thank you for sharing your blowsy joy!
Vibs
Thank you -that has made my day – if not the month!
This kind of cheer is just the ticket!
Dear Kate.
I just opened the email and your post lifted my spirits this morning, it was just what I needed! Thanks to you, Tom, and the boys for the delightful photos.
Kind regards,
Deborah
Deborah McQueen Coder, Studio and Fiber Arts
>
That’s brightened my day Thank you
Thank you from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Beautiful blooms and beautiful dogs. You feed the soul.
Yes! Thank you from here in Minnesota.
Yes! Take joy where you can find it. I have two amaryllis and a cat.
Thanks! Knitting helps to get “stuck into” an absorbing creative activities. I’m finally making the Glenan kit I got several years ago as my knitting is picked up again.
Will Tom sell a copy of the photo of the Amaryllis and if so how expensive would it be for an 8×10?
Oh my goodness!!! This post actually brought tears to my eyes! THANK YOU!
How about 4 Amaryllis and 6 dogs? Because I got all that goin’ on!
Oy, winter. 😱 Love the photos.
The advertising used to be “Say it with flowers”, we always thought amaryllis said “hello” not in a Lesley Phillips way but an Ian Hunter/Mott the Hoople “once bitten twice shy” way
Beautiful variety! What is it?
I’m a fan of “La Paz” and “Apple Blossom “, and always have 2 sets of paper narcissis; sometimes, hyacinths, too. Love forcing them in water, so I can see the roots and stones through clear glass💗 They are helping me get through a particularly bleak January here in the States.
Also, the feeder birds, and knitting …
Amen to that. Especially the dogs.
Love the photos. I always get an Amaryllis to bloom in time for Christmas but last year I gave it a miss. Your dogs are fab too Norma x
Wondeful
Thank you from Washington DC.
Hello from NYC on a very cold holiday Monday. Your two dogs and an amaryllis certainly raised my spirits! Thanks for contributing positivity to this crazy, mixed up, even scary and depressing current environment. Frances xo
>
Beautiful pictures, beautiful dogs.
Totally agree about the dogs as an addition.
And — what Scrooge-y person wouldn’t want or even need the colorful glory of an amaryllis in full flower at this time of year (in the Northern hemisphere)?
The windchill is minus 21 degrees F here this morning in the Chicago (US) area. I just threw out my spent amaryllii yesterday and I’m grateful for this shot of deep red to start my day. Thank you Kate and Tom. And the pups.
Yea, Ma’am! Thank you.
Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing such beauty and joy! It’s much needed !
Thanks for some color in an otherwise dreary day. Cozying up with wool and a dog with a flower on the side is the BEST antidote to northern winters. <3
Heehee Glorious indeed, all three
I love two dogs and an amaryllis! I only have one at the moment but I’m considering getting another – dog not amaryllis.
Thank you! You are perfectly right, the beautifully photographed amaryllis and dogs are perfect for a soothing sight to see. (:
Thank you for this email! Just what was needed as I woke this morning to the news on the radio, the notifications on my phone and all the other negative news and noise that invades our space every day. And thanks, Tom, for your brilliant photography.
Thank you, spirits lifted 😊
Thank you for the beautiful photos!
Perfect! More please ❤️
This is wonderful. Yes! We do need more of this! Hurray for flowers and dogs. Hurray for beauty! 💖〰️Suzanna 🌸
Thank you!
well done – exactly what we need!
Love those photos!
Well its wonderful and also greatly enhanced by those two gorgeous boys!
The flowers & dogs certainly brightened up my morning. Snowy & cold here in southern Ontario Canada.
😁
Beautiful! Yes, just what we need right now. Especially with a dog.
Couldn’t be more true. A great and genuine representation of that which is important in our lives at the moment.
Thank you for a much needed moment of love, peace, and optimism!
Beautiful dogs with expressive faces.
I agree! This is the only thing to make me smile after this morning’s news.
What a breath of sunshine Kate!! Thank you for brightening my day!!
Thank you. Beautiful.
One of my friends always referred to amaryllis as ‘a cheap thrill’ and I always loved that!
Ha! That is so spot on