The Paperwhite Experiment Part 2: The Waiting Game

Back in November I planted some paperwhites that I had attempted to force into blooming for Christmas. I was a little late in getting them planted but I think it is about time for an update:

Paperwhite watch day 73. Still no sign of a flower bud.

Unless something changes I think this experiment will have to go to the archives of the journal of negative results. The bulbs have given us some extra greenery over the festive period but no flowers! I won't throw them in the compost just yet - who knows what they might do.

P.s. As some of you may have noticed we have not done any Photo Fridays this month. We have decided to take a brief sojourn from these until the weather and daylight improves enough for us to get reasonable photos. Being in the office dawn until dusk limits the times we can be out with a camera! Sorry for compounding any winter blues, we will be back to normal soon.

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The Paperwhite Experiment Part 1: A Cunning Plan?

Last year we had some paperwhites (white narcissus) in bloom for Christmas. I was a little upset to discover that the general wisdom seems to be that the best thing to do with the bulbs, once they have finished flowering, is to bin them! This upset me so I planted the bulbs in a quiet shady corner of the garden once the frosts had passed thinking I would try and convince them to come back to life this winter.

Having done a bit of reading I decided to try and force them through an artificial dormant period in the hope of tricking them. Once the foliage died back (some time around July) I lifted the bulbs and set them to dry in a cool place. At the start of September I tucked the bulbs in the back of the fridge to attempt to simulate a bit of winter. This weekend (start of November) I have pulled them out and planted them again.

It is typical to plant paperwhites in an almost exclusively grit based compost but I have given mine a gritty compost mix - hopefully giving them enough nutrients to develop the bulbs again for next year. I shall keep you posted on what happens! Has anyone else tried forcing bulbs a second time and have any thoughts?

Gritty Compost

Broken crocks in the bottom to help with drainage

Fresh out the fridge

Ready for watering and sitting on a window still

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