For many years around Thanksgiving a friend and I start paper whites for our churches holiday sale in hopes there may be a few blooms by Christmas or the New Year. All you need is bulbs, an interesting container, stones and water. Most nurseries have the paperwhite bulbs, also known as Narcissus papyraceus, this time of year.The Dollar store is a good place for colored stones and interesting containers. Don’t forget thrift stores. Once you have all your supplies nestle the bulb safely in the stones so it stands up and add water to JUST BELOW the bulb. If the bulb gets wet it will rot. Add water from time to time so they don’t dry .We keep them in a dark place until the roots go down and the top begins to grow then bring them into the light. We’ve heard that if you add alcohol (vodka) at that time it keeps them from growing too tall and fall over. Don’t drink too much or you will fall over too. Sometimes we use kabab sticks tied with pretty ribbons as crutches so they stay standing all season long.
The window is not a good place to start paper whites. I just wanted you to see the water levels. Here’s just some of our starts for this year.
Happy Paperwhite Growing
I just saw that Serendipity has posted
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Oh. I just love doing this; I have done it in the past with all sorts of bulbs, some work, some don’t, but paper whites are practically fool proof. Thanks for the photos and the directions. Good hint about the window; easy mistake to make.
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I have to find me a few…love this!
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Lovely idea when here everything is asleep for the winter. Hope you have some gorgeous blooms for Christmas.
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I haven’t done these for a while but your post inspired me Carol; off to the nursery
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