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How to enjoy flowering plants — even in the winter
Add color and fragrance to your home by tricking bulbs, spring-flowering trees and shrubs into thinking it's spring and blooming. The process is called forcing.
Paperwhite Narcissus bulbs are an excellent choice for forcing. Indoor gardeners can enjoy their elegant white, yellow or orange flowers for several weeks. They respond well to basic care and even the most inexperienced gardener should be able to force some blooms from Paperwhite bulbs.
Purchase healthy, high-quality Paperwhite bulbs free of bruises or soft spots.You can force Paperwhites to bloom in water or soil.
How to force a Paperwhite Narcissus in water
The ideal container is three to four inches deep and does not have drainage holes.
Place one to two inches of stones or gravel in the bottom of the container. Rinse the stones with clear water before use.
Set the bulbs on the gravel or stones.
Secure the bulbs by placing additional gravel or stones around the bulbs. Do not cover the tops of the bulbs.
Add water until it reaches the base of the bulbs. Add additional water as needed to maintain this water level.
Place planted bulbs in a dark location that is between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit for one to two weeks. This encourages roots to develop.
The bulbs will begin to develop shoots as well. When the shoots are about three inches tall, it is time to relocate the flower.
Paperwhites usually bloom in about six weeks. Paperwhites mature in height between 12 and 18 inches and may require staking when in bloom.
Locate the Paperwhites in a window that gets southern exposure until the plant blooms.
Move the Paperwhites to the coolest area of the home, out of direct sunlight, to prolong flowering.
How to force Paperwhite Narcissus in pots
Select clay, ceramic or plastic pots with drainage holes. An eight-inch-wide pot will hold eight to 10 bulbs.
Fill pots partially with potting soil. Put in just enough so that when bulbs are added, the tops of the bulbs are just below the top of the pot.
Place the bulbs in the pot, pointed side up. Pack them in as tightly as you can. They should touch one another.
Fill the rest of the pot with enough potting soil to cover bulbs, but leaving enough room to water.
Water the pot thoroughly.
Place the pot in a warm, well-lighted indoor location such as a sunny window and keep the soil moist.
You can continue forcing Paperwhite bulbs every two weeks until you can no longer find quality bulbs usually late winter to spring.
In addition to forcing bulbs, you can trick branches from flowering trees and shrubs to bloom from January through March. Wait until temperatures are consistently above freezing and branches begin to bud. To make sure they receive enough cold, don't cut branches until after January 1 in a normal year or after January 15 in a mild year.
Select trees and shrubs that are known for showy displays of springtime blossoms. Good examples include forsythia, red bud and tulip tree. Trees and shrubs, which bloom in spring, form their flower buds the previous fall. It is very satisfying to watch the daily progress of forsythia buds as they swell and burst open.
Forcing flowering branches
Cut branches 12 inches long.
Hold branches underwater while cutting approximately one inch from the end of the branch. Cutting underwater will prevent any oxygen from getting into the stems which blocks water from being taken up, causing hydration. Split the end of branches that are one-half inch in diameter with a knife will help them absorb water.
Place branches in a vase and put the vase in a cool room with temperatures around 65 Fahrenheit and low-lighting conditions.
Change the water every two days or when the water begins to cloud and mist the branches to keep buds from drying.
Move your branches into a well-lit room when they begin to bloom.
You can continue to cut various branches or force Paperwhites every two weeks for a succession of blooms and color indoors while waiting for spring to arrive.
In January, consider the Cornelian cherry (yellow flowers, two weeks to force into bloom), forsythia (yellow flowers, one to three weeks to force), witch hazel (yellow flowers, one week to force), and willow (catkins, two weeks to force).
In February, consider these same plants plus the red maple (pink to red flowers followed by leaves, two weeks to force), cherries (white and pink flowers, two to four weeks to force), rhododendrons and azaleas later in the month (many colors, four to six weeks to force), and pussy willow (well-known furry flowers, one to two weeks to force).
Then in March, consider cutting branches of hawthorns (white, pink or red flowers, four to five weeks to force), honeysuckle shrub (white to pink flowers, two to three weeks to force), apples and crabapples (white, pink and red flowers, two to four weeks to force), mock orange (white flowers, four to five weeks to force), oaks (catkins, two to three weeks to force), lilacs (many colors, four to five weeks to force), and spirea (white flowers, four weeks to force).
