There’s really nothing simpler. 1. Place paperwhite bulbs in jar/vase/pot/bowl. 2. Cover the bottom two-thirds of the bulbs with potting soil, pebbles, or marbles. 3. Add water. 4. Stand back. Most paperwhite-growing advice says the bulbs take about six weeks to mature, but that simply isn’t true. These guys were blooming in two-and-a-half weeks. That […]
Bulbs and Tubers
Earth Day garden and baby update
“Oh the days are long/ ‘Til the baby comes…” – Sinead O’Connor That’s right – I’m still waiting for this baby. One week past my due date and just learned today that the baby, which for the last nine months has been perfectly positioned, has rotated and is now posterior. This just confirms my suspicions […]
Growing paperwhites in January
I’ve always grown paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) for the holiday season – force of habit, I guess. But this winter I just didn’t get around to picking up any bulbs, and before I knew it, it was all “Happy new year!” and I had no stinky white flowers in my house. On a jaunt to the […]
First snowdrop
Today, a milestone – the first snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) of the year! It seems early, but I don’t seem to have recorded its first appearance before. (Note to myself in 2009: I actually noticed the first bloom about a week ago, but it was only this weekend that I had enough light to photograph by, […]
Happy Valentine’s day
Crocuses aren’t usually the flower that immediately springs to mind when I think of Valentine’s Day. But according to the Royal Horticultural Society, Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus, is also known as St. Valentine’s Rose. I looked it up, and found this here: Crocuses flower around Valentine’s Day. Krokos was the Greek name for the […]
Update: Paperwhites love vodka
As an update to an earlier post that cited a study showing that small amounts of alcohol (rubbing or martini-ready) can limit the sometimes-overzealous growth of bulbs such as paperwhites, I’m here to report that it’s true! I wasn’t forward-thinking enough to grow a control batch of bulbs so show my readers (next year I […]
Has the fat lady sung for my paperwhites?
I was always told that paperwhite bulbs were only good for one round of forcing, and to throw them away after the party ended. Of course, I had to at least try to get them to bloom again. I saved last year’s forced bulbs and replanted them, hoping to force them for Christmas. Sadly, only […]
Bulb thieves
Over at Takoma Gardener, Susan reveals her secret to detering squirrels from stealing her bulbs: she scatters red pepper flakes over her bulb plantings. Brilliant!