Picture Perfect Paperwhites

Forcing flowering bulbs into bloom is a great way to chase away those winter blues and if you’ve never forced bulbs before than Paperwhites are for you! Paperwhites are related to Daffodils and are indigenous to the Mediterranean region where they actually are a perennial flower. As you might expect by the name, the flowers are white but they are also strongly fragrant.  They are unique from their Daffodil cousins however in that they do not require weeks in a cold environment to initiate their blooming cycle.  

Paperwhites are often sold in a kit which includes everything you need to get started. In fact, they are so easy to work with that you can buy just the bulbs themselves; plant them in virtually any container and they will grow. They are also not fussy about the planting medium that you use either. Moist peat moss can be used but they can even be planted in a glass container with pebbles substituting for the soil.

Regardless of whether you choose a kit or decide to make your own containers paperwhites need to be kept moist. The tips of the bulbs should be above the waterline but the rest of the bulb can actually be underwater. This is how they are grown when pebbles are used rather than peat moss. This means you will want to check them regularly to be sure they don’t dry out due to the less than humid conditions that are found indoors during the winter months. They also prefer cooler temperatures, usually between 50 to 60 degrees to look their best and should be kept out of direct sunlight to sustain a longer blooming cycle.

When planting the bulbs you should plant them close together but make sure they aren’t touching one another or they can rot. Depending upon the size of your container you should plant 6 to 12 bulbs to get a nice mass of flowers. If you have the room you can plant the bulbs in different containers every 2 weeks and by doing so you can have blooms throughout the winter. When one container is finished blooming another one will be ready to take over! Once planted, the bulbs will root and the tips will look very similar to that of a daffodil when it emerges in the spring. After the tips appear the plant will usually bloom within 3 to 4 weeks.

Having grown paperwhites myself I have found that the green stems do need some support once the blooms appear. Without the support, the stem will bend over due to the weight of the flowers. If the container will allow you to do so you can insert some small supporting stakes at the time you plant the bulbs and then as the stems grow you can put a little string around the stakes to support them. This also lets the stems cover the supports and allow them to almost blend in with the stems. If you are concerned about the string showing you can try using fishing line to tie up the stems as it is virtually transparent. The one unfortunate outcome of the forcing process is that these bulbs can only bloom once and after they finish blooming they should be discarded. I think, however, the opportunity to have flowers throughout the cold winter makes this an acceptable tradeoff. 

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