Lots of spring-flowering bulbs can be "forced" to bloom in the wintertime. It's a great way to beat the gloom, and with many bulbs on sale now at garden centers, you can save a lot of money, too.
I planted 6 pots of bulbs yesterday and have more to go. I also put a Hyacinth bulb in a Hyacinth glass - a special vase that has a lip that holds the bulb above the water. It's in the refrigerator, chilling out.
Most any lightweight potting mix will do, and almost any flower pot, though you can get special bulb pans that are wide and shallow. You can even use a bowl with gravel and no soil at all.
After pottting the bulbs, they can go outside or into the refrigerator for a cooling period that ranges from 10-15 weeks on average. After the chill period, you bring them indoors and watch them grow. You can also buy pre-chilled bulbs that don't need much time before popping into bloom.
To find out more about forcing bulbs, check out this link from the University of Rhode Island. It's got a handy chart that tells you how long bulbs need to be chilled.
Have you ever forced bulbs? What kind do you like? I've found that Hyacinths and Daffodills are really easy. So are Paperwhites, a form of Narcissus that doesn't need cooling.
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