Really? Those big fancy bulbs we buy for ten bucks a pop during the holidays, whose thick, green stalks bear flashy trumpet-shaped flowers -- those aren't amaryllis?

Not according to this little link, which says the holiday bulbs are actually hippeastrum. Hmmm.

Anywicki, the point is that for me, an amaryllis (or two) is a splurge, while in some parts of Malibu, they're just a humble bedding plant.