Friday 26 Oct 2007
Add Holiday Cheer with Flowers: Forcing Bulbs: Part 1
Hello Fellow Gardeners,
Do you want to bring to your home a little Christmas cheer in the form of festive flowers? Poinsettias and Christmas cactus’ are beautiful, but you may want a little more variety. Why not try forcing bulbs for the holidays!? You can deck your halls with freesias, amaryllis’, tulips, and more! However, Christmas may seem like months away (ha!) but its right around the corner, so you’ll need to get started ASAP!
Forcing Bulbs
Forcing Bulbs is just as the term implies, it simply is forcing bulbs to bloom before they are naturally ready. You basically fool them to bloom out of season.
Forcing bulbs is easy to do, here we will let you know the time requirements and everything you need to get started, and in our next article we will let you know exactly how to force those little darlings!
Time Requirements
Crocus, Grape Hyacinth, Freesias – 4 to 6 weeks
Tulips require 8-10 weeks
Daffodils – 12 to 14 weeks: You probably won’t have these in time for Christmas, but hey, you get to enjoy a little indoor sunshine when it’s cold wet and snowy outside!
When buying bulbs for forcing always buy top quality bulbs! The best bulbs gives you the best show! Also remember, the bigger the bulb the bigger the flower!
What You Will Need!
1. A plastic container that is no more than a couple inches deep, but at least twice as deep as the size of the bulb!
No need to buy expensive garden equipment here, I have been known to use a disposable aluminum pan or a 13×9 Gladware pan with great success! Just make sure to put a few holes in the bottom, and insert the pan into a basket type container and no one is the wiser!
Some bulbs such as hyacinth, crocus and amaryllis can be grown in water with pebbles on the bottom for support. For these particular types I use a favorite cut glass container to add to the holiday atmosphere!
2. Bulb fertilizer or slow release fertilizer, or bone meal. I personally like Bulbs Alive, which is an all natural fertilizer.
3. Light potting soil (soil that contains equal parts peat moss or perlite) for good drainage!
4. Bulbs!
5. Labels! Label your containers with the name of the bulb and the date planted!
6. A dark cool place (such as a basement, or an unheated garage) to keep the bulbs after they are planted.
Once you have all of this together, you can start your bulbs anytime! Stay tuned for how-to directions in our next article!
Happy Gardening,
Marie Suzanne
Marie | garden photos, fertilizing, flowers, northern gardening
3 Responses to “ Add Holiday Cheer with Flowers: Forcing Bulbs: Part 1 ”
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Thanks for the tips!