Chapter 14 - Bulbs

There are very few more rewarding tasks in the cultivation of a home garden than forcing bulbs into riotous bloom in the middle of winter. With a little practice and a little foresight you can assure yourself of some wonderful spots of color throughout your house that will continue all winter long. It is an inexpensive way to beautify your home, and nowhere near as difficult as most people seem to think. Before we get into any real discussion of bulb forcing, there is one point that must be made. Never substitute quantity for quality. If you are offered bulbs at a special price the chances are that they are inferior in quality. The difference in price between a good bulb and a poor one is little, but the difference in performance is great.

The one requirement for successful bulb-raising other than common sense and foresight is a cool place in which they can be started. Most bulbs, with only a few exceptions, need the equivalent of a cold frame or a bulb cellar. This requirement can be met by your cellar if the furnace doesn't keep it too hot, by an unheated sun porch, or even at times by a cool closet where the temperature can be kept at about 50° to 55°. If, during their rooting periods, the bulbs get much warmer than this, they will dry out and fail to bloom.

The methods of forcing and the time it takes from when the bulbs are first set in the rooting medium until the blossoms open vary from plant to plant, and so we have discussed the procedures with each flower described. We have chosen to outline five of those which require the least special equipment and which give best results.

Amaryllis is a flower which can be forced extremely easily. It produces several large lily-like flowers in a great variety of colors, white, red, crimson, red and white striped, etc. Plant the Amaryllis bulb, preferably one to a pot, about two-thirds of its height in a rich, well drained potting soil. Unlike most bulbs it does not need to be kept particularly cool, but can be kept in a shady spot at regular room temperature. It should be well watered at planting and not allowed to dry out. It will take two or three months before it reaches the flowering state and so if you want plants in flower during the winter you should pot them up before December. Since this is one of the plants which will bloom a second year, don't throw it out when it has lost its flowers. Keep it growing for the foliage, giving it plenty of water and plant food until the possibility of frost is past. Then move it out into the garden for the summer. In the fall, bring it back into the house and give it a rest period by cutting down its water supply and nutrients. Then repot in October or November and start the cycle over again.

Calla Lily is another bulb plant which doesn't require an especially cool starting environment. It does require a good rich potting soil to which a generous dose of plant food has been added and plenty of water. Except that it should be watered more often, it can be treated much like the Amaryllis, being allowed to grow after its blooming period. It should be gradually dried out, starting in July, and allowed to rest for a period of six to eight weeks. It is generally recommended that after the water supply has been cut back the pots be laid on their sides to keep the roots absolutely dry. Then in the fall repot, feed and start again. During its flowering period, which lasts several weeks, the Calla Lily and its numerous varieties produce some startlingly handsome flowers in many different colors.

Gloxinia is one of the most beautiful of all the bulbous types, producing great masses of multicolored flowers with each blooming. They are cared for in much the same way as Calla Lily except for the soil. They need a loose porous soil to which peat humus has been added. It is also a good idea to see that the soil is well drained and that charcoal is added to purify it.

Hyacinths will grow well without any soil at all, requiring only water. There are glasses, commercially available, which are made to fit a hyacinth bulb in which they can be very successfully grown. These flowers are not only beautiful to look at but have a wonderful fragrance which makes them doubly enjoyable. To grow, fill the hyacinth glass with water so that just the roots are immersed and place in a dark cool cellar or closet for eight to ten weeks. When the growth has reached three or four inches, place the plant in a sunny cool window and it should prosper. Various hybrids come in white, pink, blue and lavender. Hyacinths may also be grown in pebbles like narcissi.

Paper White Narcissus has gained its immense popularity not only from its spring-like beauty, but from the speed with which it can be brought to flower. A narcissus bulb started at the beginning of November can be in full flower by mid-December. This plant can be grown in several mediums, but the one most frequently used is pebbles. Put a one-inch layer of pebbles in a shallow glass dish and fill it with water to the top of the layer. Then set out your bulbs (two or three or more to a container makes an impressive display) and fill in around them with pebbles a little higher than half way up. The pebbles should be moist, but the bulbs should never be sitting directly in the water. Keep the dishes in a cool dark plant, preferably between 50° and 60° for about three weeks. By that time, the roots should have spread and you should have a three- or four-inch beginning of the plant reaching out of the head of the bulbs. If they are moved to a sunny window at this point, they should bloom within two weeks. Although they need a sunny south window, they do not like too much heat and will flower best if the room temperature is kept below 70°. Since the blooming time of Paper Whites, and other members of the family such as the yellow Soleil d'Or, is about ten to fourteen days, you can have constant color at your window if you start a dish every two weeks. Narcissus bulbs will not flower more than once, so after they have bloomed they may be discarded.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...