Forcing Paper Whites

 

 

I can’t believe we are only a few days away from Christmas!

 

The stockings are hung, the gifts are wrapped, the money is spent. :/ (I don’t mean to sound scrooge - like but whew, I’m tired of spending money!)

Around this time of the year I begin to feel an overwhelming urge to see blooms. After all, it’s been a few months since I’ve seen any around here, and nine months since a spring bloom burst from the ground.

On November 15th I planted Paper Whites that I got on clearance at Walmart.

I put gravel in pots..

I placed the bulbs, which had little sprouts already, onto the gravel and filled the pots with water up to the bottom of the bulb.

I placed the pots under the upstairs sky light, so they had plenty of light.

After 15 days, this is what was happening..

As you can see, some were sprouted more than others.

On the 30th day, I took the longest shoots and put them all in one pot. At that time they were just about to bloom. The rest are presently still upstairs under the sky light. Some of them look like they aren’t going to make it, but a few of them are still growing.

Here are the ones I combined in one pot on December 19th, 34 days after planting..

They grew tall enough that I tied a string around them for support.

I like to play around with different backgrounds..

Just seeing the fresh green color and the white blooms brought so much cheer into a room. Notice I used the past tense, “brought.” Sadly, the drawback with these flowers is the smell. They are now in the basement because no one likes the smell of them. I would have put up with it since I liked to see them so much but every time I was gone, they would be moved to a remote location. :(

I want to do some research on this issue. Maybe there is something I could add to the water next time to make them smell better? I would love any feedback if any of you have tried forcing these bulbs.

I will show off some other blooms that are residing in our home. They look just as good and smell amazing! Plus, they came from a pretty awesome person who happens to be my hubby.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

-Mary