The fall is a time to fill our gardens with bulbs for spring bloom. If you like daffodils or narcissuses as much as I do, it’s also a time to plant them indoors narcissus such as paperwhites for instance will bloom without chilling the bulbs for a period of time as required with tulips.
These bulbs can begin flowering within five to six weeks after planting. So if you’re into immediate gratification, there’s no waiting until spring. I planted these bulbs just 10 days ago and you can see how they’ve already started to sprout and look at all of these vigorous white roots. I like to plant a few bulbs each week from just before thanksgiving until Christmas. This will give me a plenty of blooms to the holidays and through the month of January.
I always purchase plenty of extra bulbs and keep them stored in my refrigerator in a paper bag until I’m ready to plant them. About the only problem with this plant is that they can grow tall and spindly and have a tendency to flop over. However, this can be easily avoided by not allowing them to grow too fast. Giving the bulbs plenty of light and keeping them in cool temperatures will make the plant sturdy and last longer. If they did begin to flop, you may just have to stake and tie them.
Now one last tip, it’s critical you give them plenty of water. You cannot over water paperwhites so don’t worry. This is a case where more is better. If you try these, you’ll find that growing a spring bouquet of fragrant flowers was never so easy or so much fun. From the garden, I’m Allen Smith.
For more on this topic and other information, please check out my website at pallensmith.com.
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