© Janet Davis

The leaves are raked, the dahlias lifted, the roses snug under their little hills and the spade hanging on the garage wall. So what’s a gardener to do now? Well, if you’re like me (a non-skiing couch petunia), winter is one long tough withdrawal period from outdoor gardening. Why not have some fun making it pass quickly by forcing spring bulbs indoors?

Forcing bulbs means simulating outdoor winter conditions by giving them a period of dark, cold dormancy (in a fridge, cellar or unheated garage with a temperature of 3-10C or 35-50F). After several weeks -- 6 to 14 depending on the type of bulb and how advanced the season was when the bulbs were chilled—bulbs showing good growth of shoots above the soil in their pots are brought to warmth and light to produce flowers.

Although most literature suggests using bulb pans (6- or 7-inch shallow clay or plastic pots) and this certainly makes for impressive displays, I don’t do it this way. First, I don’t have a sufficiently cold spot apart from an old clunker basement fridge, and I don’t like filling it with bulky pots. Second, I like having flexibility about the way I’ll use the bulbs, so I plant them in 4-inch 2. pots that small perennials come in. This lets me mix a few daffodils, tulips, crocuses, grape hyacinths, etc.—whatever’s ready at a given time—in a basket or windowsill planter to bloom like a mixed mini-garden.

I avoid tulips and daffodils over 14 inches tall as these tend to tip a small pot. Try single early tulips (General deWet, Christmas Marvel, Apricot Beauty, etc.) and cyclamineus hybrid daffodils (February Gold, Tete a Tete, Jack Snipe, etc.) Although you can orchestrate a mix of flowers this way (provided you start with enough bulbs and chill them at different intervals) you can’t combine different ones in a single big pot and expect them to flower at the same time.

I use regular indoor potting soil and pop a few bulbs in each pot—a single plump hyacinth, 2-3 tulips or daffodils, maybe a half-dozen crocuses or grape hyacinths. Make sure most of the soil is under the bulb so sufficient roots can grow; larger bulbs can be left slightly exposed at top. Label the pots, water them well, and place in the fridge under a few sheets of newspaper to keep out light.

The biggest problem with frost-free fridges is dryness; make sure the soil stays moist and the pots don’t freeze. When roots fill the pot and shoots have emerged 1-3 inches above the soil, the bulbs are ready to come into moderate 3. light and cool conditions until flower buds appear, then they can be placed in warmth and bright light where you want them .

Gifts from forced spring bulbs are fun and original. A wooden 4-quart or 6-quart basket can be stencilled or sponge-painted and filled with small pots of bulbs, ferns, primroses, cyclamen or kalanchoe. Cover the tops of the pots with damp sheet moss or Spanish moss so it looks like a little garden, then tie a raffia bow on the handle. Or force the bulbs right inside the kind of container you’d like to give as a gift; just make sure there’s a drainage layer at the bottom. The fun is in the packaging.

Clay pots are classic. Inexpensive ceramic ones, some painted with beautiful floral motifs, are lovely planted with bulbs. What about a name-personalized mug filled with one fragrant hyacinth? A plastic sandpail loaded with crocuses and destined for a budding gardener. An over-sized soup mug or cream pitcher with grape hyacinths. A moss-lined basket (with an inner liner of plastic sheeting) filled with daffodils.

Sweet-scented paperwhite narcissus make great gifts at this time of year. Though they should be kept in a dark cool spot until used, they don’t require cold-forcing, so they’re even more versatile. Planted in a terracotta pot or decorative bowl and topped with sheet moss, they make beautiful hostess gifts. Or forget about planting them. Buy several dozen, placing six each plus some shredded newspaper or excelsior into a paper lunch bag you’ve sprayed gold or stencilled, painted, or potato-stamped with a Christmas motif (star, holly, Santa). Tie up with fancy ribbon and keep in a cool spot ready to take out for holiday gift-giving.

Adapted from an article that appeared originally at gardencrazy.com

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