Halloween decorations are barely off the shelves and the stores are suddenly stocked with everything Christmas. Amid the toys and tinsel are those white boxes picturing glorious red, white, or candy-striped trumpet flowers. Hippeastrum, or amaryllis, as it’s better known, is one of the special flowers that herald the holiday season.

This spectacular lily-like plant originated in Central and South America, so in our climate, it must be kept indoors during the winter. It has been hybridized to produce flowers up to nine inches wide, in colors including red, yellow, white, salmon and pink, and can be found in stripes, speckles and double ruffles. The flowers are borne on tall, thick stems, but the strappy leaves don’t appear until after the plant has bloomed.

Whether you purchase an amaryllis in a boxed kit or as a bare bulb from the nursery, you don’t need a green thumb to persuade it to burst into bloom. It may look exotic, but it takes minimal care to keep your amaryllis flowering for many years. I’ve had one candy-striped plant for about a decade. It gives me at least one bloom period a year, often two. A couple of years ago, it produced a “baby” bulb, which I separated, and both plants are doing well.

If you purchase and plant your bulb now, you can expect it to bloom in eight to 12 weeks. That means it may be late for Christmas, but it surely would be a cheerful sight on a drab day in January. You may also find that some bulbs have already sprouted in the box, giving them a head start for the holidays.

A boxed amaryllis kit usually comes with a rootless bulb, a pot, some peaty soil and simple planting instructions. If you buy unboxed bulbs from the nursery or a catalog, choose a well-draining pot for each, about an inch larger than the bulb. Fill the pot a third full of slightly moist, peaty soil, enriched with a little compost. Set the bulb on top and if it has started sprouting roots, spread them. Press more soil firmly around the bulb, leaving the upper third exposed. Make sure it’s snug in its pot and water it well. Put the plant in a cool, draft-free room, such as the spare bedroom. Keep it away from furnace vents and woodstoves. Water only enough to keep it from drying out; overwatering promotes rot.

Shoots should appear within a few weeks. When you see them, move the plant to a windowsill and increase the amount of water slowly. When the flower stalk appears, rotate the pot regularly to keep the stalk from bending toward the light. Stake it if necessary. Flower buds should appear rapidly and the pot will fill with roots. Feed them with a dilute solution of liquid fertilizer. You can have a succession of amaryllis flowers all winter if you start forcing a bulb every two weeks.

To preserve the longevity of the bulb, when the flowers fade, cut off the stalk, but not the leaves. Treat it as you would any houseplant, watering and fertilizing regularly. When all danger of frost is past (around Mother’s Day), put your amaryllis outside in a lightly shaded area for the summer. Be sure to bait for slugs and snails, though. They just love amaryllis!

In late September or early October, bring the amaryllis back into the house. Put it back in that cool room and stop watering it. The foliage will turn yellow as the bulb goes into dormancy. Cut off the leaves to within two inches of the soil line and leave the pot alone. Water only if the bulb begins to shrivel. Within weeks, you should see new green shoots peeping out from the bulb. Put it in a sunny window and resume the water and fertilizer cycle.

As tender, loving gardeners, we may feel that it would be kind to repot our amaryllis every year. However, like fashion models in pointy, stilleto heels, these exuberant beauties seem to bloom better when pot bound. If you just have to do something, add rich, new soil to the top third of the pot each year, or repot every three or four years. If properly cared for, amaryllis can brighten your winter windowsill for many years.

I received an e-mail query from Don at Olympic View Park. He plans to grow a 2- x 5-foot patch of spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard and kale this winter, and asked whether covering the garden with plastic during freezing weather would keep the plants from being damaged. The garden is located beneath a mobile home awning, next to an open fence that doesn’t block the wind.

I don’t want to discourage Don from growing his winter veggies, but am concerned that they may not get enough light under that awning. Also, any parts of a plant that touch the plastic will be exposed to the outside temperature and will most likely freeze. Draped plastic sheeting also predisposes the plants to too much humidity and promotes fungus.

I suggest that you construct a simple cold frame that can be used for the whole season, Don. Plant inside the cold frame instead of laying plastic directly over the veggies. A cold frame can protect plants from freezing temperatures and wind, collect the sun’s heat and increase the temperature, and be propped open or closed as the gardener — and the weather —- dictates. Many designs for simple cold frames can be found on the web. Most can be constructed of scrap lumber and old windows. Just don’t use railroad ties or treated lumber when growing anything edible. These materials contain toxic chemicals that can leach into the soil. You don’t want a side of arsenic or creosote with your Swiss chard, Don!

Mariana Graham writes this biweekly column as part of her volunteer efforts as an Island County Master Gardener. E-mail her at frogardn@whidbey.net