Paperwhites are Narcissus to Force Indoors for Winter Color

Most garden centers or mail order houses have non-hardy indoor flower bulbs which can be purchased now when they are available and can be successfully shipped without freezing out. Some bulbs like hyacinths and tulips are often times forced to bloom inside and if that is your goal, hold back some of these bulbs for that purpose.

Two of my favorites are the indoor paper white narcissus and amaryllis bulbs. If you have not had the pleasure of growing either one of these bulbs, you are indeed missing a treat.

Unlike the narcissus (daffodil) bulbs planted outside the paper white narcissus is a non-hardy bulb for the cold areas of Ohio and the northeastern states.

Paperwhite narcissus (paperwhites) are grown indoors. Unlike other more hardy narcissus, paperwhites do not require a long period of cold or darkness, grows and blooms in five to eight weeks and tolerates the temperature and conditions of indoor cultivation.

These bulbs are fun to grow and the white flowers will not only brighten up cold winter days but will also provide a room with a subtle fragrance.

To successfully grow paperwhites the bulbs are not actually planted in soil, but are planted in pebbles, gravel, or marbles. When forcing indoors:  

• Select a shallow bowl with no drainage hole and cover the bottom of the bowl with a layer of washed pebbles, gravel or crushed marbles.
• Generally for an effective appearance and if the bowl allows for it, place 5-6 bulbs on top of the layer of the soil, gravel, or marbles. Each bulb is planted with the pointed end of the bulb upwards. Because the bulbs are going to be discarded anyway, each bulb can touch either.
• After the bulbs have been set in place; add more pebbles, gravel or crushed marbles to the bowl, surrounding the bulbs until only the tops of the bulbs are visible.
• Add water to the bowl so the water level is at the bottom of the bulbs and this level should be at kept at this level throughout the bulbs’ growth.
• After getting the bulbs situated, place the bowl and bulbs in a cool (50 to 55 degrees F), dark place for one to two weeks to allow the roots to grow and then bring them into a well lit spot that remains at 70 to 75 degrees F.
• Monitor the water level and within a few weeks the bulbs will start sending up shoots and will be topped with flowers

After blooming, discard the bulbs. Often times, people stagger their planting of the bulbs so they can keep the blooming cycle well through the winter.

Time to Dig and Store Dahlia Tubers and Canna Rhizomes

After a week of heavy rains, we had a sunny yet cool day in northeast Ohio.   The weather was in the fifties and a perfect time to begin my fall clean up chores. Today, I dug up and divided my dahlia tubers and canna rhizomes and tomorrow will harvest the rest of the zinnia seeds.

Since the next couple of days will be sunny but cool, I am going to shred and throw all my perennial clippings and mulched leaves into my vegetable / flower garden and lightly till the plant material into the garden. 

Of course next spring I will do an early tilling and add peat moss, lime, and composted cow manure into the garden.

But let’s go back to the divisions of dahlias and cannas.

These flowers cannot survive an Ohio winter and need to be dug now or after the first light frost which kills the leaves.

Like the sweet potato, dahlias produce tubers, which are actually stems, which will serve as the beginning of the new dahlia plants. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I am recommending that you view  The Colorado Dahlia Society blog which has a great visual description on the digging, cutting and storing of dahlia tubers.
  　
I have not had great success with cannas this year or last but decided to dig them up and try the varieties again next year.  Cannas are actually tropical plants and the blog Cool Tropical Plants . Com has a very good description how to grow, plant, and store canna rhizomes.  

Essentially, both dahlias and cannas need to be stored in a dark cool dry area in a mixture of peat moss or saw dust and not be allowed to dry out or freeze.  The perfect location is in our basement pump room which is generally a cool 60 degrees through the winter. 

Throughout the winter, you should sporadically check the plant tubers and rhizomes to be certain that they are not drying out or rotting.   There are many who would recommend a light dusting of a fungicide on the dahlia bulbs which could help reduce some losses. 

Freshly Dug Dahlia Tubers and Canna Rhizomes

Alliums, Snowdrops, and Anemone Complete the Bulbs for Planting Now

Besides tulips, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths, there are some additional spring bulbs you should consider for your garden.

Flowering Alliums are members of the onion family and come in a variety of flower colors and sizes. These tall blooming flowers like a sunny location, are deer and rodent resistant, and bloom in the early summer.  

Alliums come in a variety of flower colors as well as heights and create a dramatic effect when planted in-groups of 3 or more.

Allium Caeruleum Azureum Blue Drumstick

Snowdrops or Galanthus are the earliest of the spring flowers and often times are blooming ahead of the crocus and as early as February. Snow drops have white flowers that when poking through a snowfall, remind all of us that spring is not necessarily around the corner but is at least on its way.
　
Snow drops should be planted in a partially shaded area, as they most definitely do not like hot dry locations.

Use 5 or more bulbs per planting to create the dramatic look, which you are striving for. Eventually, snow drops will readily naturalize in the area they have been planted.
　
Turkish Snowdrop 10 Bulbs - Galanthus elwesii

 　
Anemones or Windflowers produce daisylike flowers and come in a variety of flower colors.

Anemones do not have any fragrances and readily naturalize in a garden area. Often times they are planted among daffodils to hide the long growing leaves of the completed daffodil flower.

Anenomes like like a well-drained soil and a sunny location before the trees and shrubs around them have finished leafing out.


Anemone blanda Mixture

Hyacinths Provide a Sweet Fragrance in the Garden

The most fragrant of the spring bulbs are the hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis). Hyacinths are native to Greece and Turkey. When flowering, hyacinths have the sweet fragrance of lilacs and are covered with many waxy small bell-shaped blossoms called florets.


Like crocus and tulips, hyacinths come in a variety of colors: yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, and blues. I am hesitant to call hyacinths effective bulbs for naturalizing.

Unlike the naturalizing crocus and daffodils, which will increase in their growing areas, hyacinths left undisturbed will come up yearly in the same place without any expansion of their growing area. These returning bulbs often times have smaller stalks of florets with flowers reverting too common blues and whites. Fortunately, these smaller flowering hyacinths still produce a very fragrant flower, which will perfume the garden airs.

Holland and the United Kingdom are the largest growers of hyacinth bulbs, which often times are purchased to be forced to bloom inside. Whether selected to be a forced blooming indoor bulb or used as a cut flower, the perfume fragrance of the hyacinth can overwhelm a small room and the fragrance will persist for several days even when the flowers have been removed.
Hyacinth Fantasy Mix

Hyacinth Delft Blue

Jan Bos Hyacinth 10 Bulbs - FRAGRANT

Consider some of the following varieties of Hyacinths for your garden

Crocus Bulbs Readily Naturalize in Gardens

Naturalizing is the ability of many spring bulbs to spread on their own without having to be replanted yearly. This ability to naturalize has been noted regarding daffodils.   Another very successful naturalizer are crocus.

Crocus are one of the earliest spring flowers to bloom in the northeast and often times will stick their blossoms out when there is still snow on the ground. Crocus flowers close at night, remain tightly closed during a shady day, but when there is a bright March sunny day, the flowers are wide open displaying their bright orange stamens against their colorful petals.

As the crocus bulbs naturalize---a mass of blooming crocus on a sunny day is quite a site to behold.

As with all flowering bulbs, when crocus are finished blooming, allow their leave to grow and whither on their own. During this period of leaves only, the bulbs are recapturing the energy to go into their winter dormancy to bloom again the following year.

Interestingly, should you clip off the grassy green leaves of a crocus bulb, the bulb will likely not reappear again—so be careful when working around bulbs, which have finished blooming.

Generally when purchasing  crocus bulbs at a large home improvement store, the bulbs are packaged without naming the particular varieties, however, when ordering through a garden catalog or over the internet or from a specialized garden center some specialized varieties  can be purchased.

My recommendation would be to seek out the following crocus varieties:

• Crocus vernus
• Crocus chrysanthus
• Crocus tommasinianus
• Crocus sieberi