Hippeastrum 'Happy Garden'

Hippeastrum, or amaryllis, are most commonly grown as flowering houseplants, and are often given as gifts at Christmas. The bulbous plants hail from South Africa, and bear four to six large flowers on a tall, light green hollow stem.

It's easy to force amaryllis bulbs to flower indoors over Christmas, and once they've finished flowering they can be stored and encouraged to flower the following year.

Hippeastrum 'Happy Garden' bears multiple heads of red flowers with a green-white centre. For best results, grow at room temperature, around 20°C in a well-lit room, ideally in full sun. Water sparingly at first, then increase the amount as the flower stems develop.