Bulb forcing experiments

Yes, I know, it’s mid-fall, and here I am talking about forcing bulbs indoors. Well, now is the time. All bulbs except the Narcissus tazetta class and Hippeastrum (amaryllis) must be chilled for approximately twelve weeks, give or take, before you can force them on vase or in bowls–or any other container you’d like.

Last year, I placed mine on water in the fridge, but the garage refrigerator gets opened and closed by many people in this house all winter long. Plus, it got so cold out there the bulb water froze. Frozen water didn’t hurt the bulbs or the vases, but I panicked and brought them inside too soon. Some didn’t chill long enough. I’m still placing bulbs in the fridge this year, but I’ll chill them in their nice, dark bags first. Make sure you separate bulbs from any fruit in the fridge because ethylene gas, especially that from apples, interferes with growth. Tagging the bags is also a good idea.

I’ve forced bulbs for several seasons, but last year, I became much more intentional about the process. I blame Garden Winthindoors because Julie’s blog was a source of great inspiration temptation during long, cold winter months. I’m so glad to see she’s back for another round of forcing fun. Plus, I’m now enabling everyone I know. Bwahaha! That’s the extent of my Halloween posting. Boo!

I went on a bulb forcing container spree last year, and I’m planting many of these with N. tazetta. These containers are a steal because many were made by McCoy pottery in Ohio, and haven’t been discovered yet by garden enthusiasts. Bulb forcing must have once been very popular.

Let’s bring it back into style.

I love McCoy’s soft colors from the 1930s through the 1960s. I bought a few on eBay last year, but I also found several at my favorite Guthrie antique stores. Milk glass is nice and very inexpensive. Let me lead you down the rabbit trail with a couple of posts from last year on bulb forcing bowls and vases. I’m especially fond of the pink one above. Don’t believe everything you read on eBay though. These aren’t that rare. Don’t pay a fortune for them. I found many locally for $5.00 to $9.00.

Because I don’t like stinky N. tazetta ‘Ziva,‘ which is the most common tazetta in stores, I ordered different ones online. Just search for tazetta, and you’ll find ‘Inball’ (or ‘Inbal’), ‘Wintersun,’ ‘Nir,’ ‘Geranium’ and ‘Erlicheer‘ tazetta types. I especially love ‘Erlicheer’ and ‘Nir.’ Do yourself a favor and grow the ones listed here instead of ‘Ziva.’ Also in the daffodil forcing experiments, I’ll grow miniature types, but they must be chilled first.

On to hyacinths. They seem to be very reliable for forcing. I’m growing ‘City of Haarlem’ named after a city in the Netherlands, ‘Delft Blue,’ ‘Gypsy Queen‘ and ‘Woodstock.’ In crocus, I got C. chrysanthus ‘Blue Pearl, C. vernus ‘Jeanne d’Arc.’ and ‘Twilight.’ I will plant them inside or out depending upon my mood when they get here since I’m also doing lasagna plantings outdoors. Still waiting on my tulips for that.

Thank goodness I bought a few more vases this year. Vintage and newish ones can be found on eBay, and they aren’t cheap. I let myself have three this year, or was it five? Anyway, they are pricey because they often come from England or even Holland. Bill got a kick out of signing for one of my packages because it came directly from Holland. It’s pictured below.

That’s my fourth amethyst colored vase since I bought three in the last three years. I also bought two amber ones from Denmark. They are also shaped a bit differently because they are oval instead of round. Kind of a fun thing. I really started by collecting cobalt blue vases and small medicine bottles because I also collect flow blue China. The medicine bottles are for a miniature bottle tree. You can see my blue bottles and vases in the photo below. Some people want jewelry. I like housewares. To each his own.

Bulb vases are so pretty they look good just sitting in a window even if you never plant a thing in them. However, I will plant these because the scent of Hyacinth will be the icing on the cake.