Plant some of these now and they’ll be up and flowering in 6-8 weeks and the small, elegant flowers with paper-thin petals will fill your house with a delicious scent. They fall into that category of ‘forced bulbs’ which just means that given certain conditions they’ll flower early. In this case they simply need to be kept in a cool, dark place at first so they develop plenty of roots.
Paperwhite narcissi, Narcissus papyraceus Ziva
How to plant Paperwhites:
- Choose a bowl or tall glass vase, if you want a really stylish look, go for empty Diptyque glass candle holders for individual bulbs. Glass is nice because you see some of the roots developing.
- Place a layer of shingle or pebbles in the base.
- Nestle the bulbs, pointed side up, and close together on the shingle.
- Add more shingle leaving the pointy ‘nose’ of the bulb showing, you can also use bulb fibre at this stage.The plants are quite tall and liable to tip over when they flower if they’re not secure, so it’s best to use a small shingle or a mix of small and large.
- Water the shingle below the bulbs, don’t let the bulbs sit in water or they may rot.
- When the shoots are 3-5cm tall, bring them out of the dark, but keep them away from bright sunlight until they become green, then move them into bright sun. The ideal spot is bright and sunny, but away from direct heat, like a radiator.
- The flowers will soon follow and the sweet scent will fill the room.
- After-care:
- Snip the dead flowers off and give the plants a liquid feed, leaving the foliage in place until it turns yellow-brown, this is how the bulb stores energy ready for flowering next year. If you live in the south of England, or have a sheltered spot in your garden, plant them outside. They don’t like cold but they may re-grow and it’s worth a try.
I’d recommend new bulbs each time for indoor planting.
Bulbs can be bought online from those nice people at Crocus.
Happy gardening
Jill
image: courtesy of Crocus, ibulb.
Hi Jill: I’m a new subscriber. Have done this for years and then planted them outside, Zone 5 US, and have just put the smaller flowering narcissus in the patio area. They bloom later and are the most fragrant. Working around them is heavenly. Have lots of areas but this one was chosen for later flowering bulbs. Put in an Austin rose bed last year in part of my raised formerly vegetable beds. I’m 82 and live alone so gave up on most of the six 6’x12′ veggie beds. Held 2 out for me and the rest are Austin roses almost. I add each year but still have room for more. Enjoy your column and read it faithfully along with watching BBC Gardener’s World. Subscribe to English Garden and now Gardens too but prefer EG. The long winter is when I yearn for these magazines. Have a greenhouse as part of the house and took cuttings for the first time this year from watching the BBC shows. Used to just grow from seed in the Spring only. Live and learn. C.
Hi Cynthia, thanks so much for your kind comments. I’m inspired to plant my paperwhites outside after hearing about yours, they’ve almost finished flowering. I love David Austin roses too. Jill