Indoor bulbs

January 27, 2008. Two blue hyacinths are in bloom in the kitchen with three more in the porch working on it. The blue (Delph Blue) variety has the strongest scent. This is unlike most plants where white blooms have the strongest scent. The very dark pink hyacinth was a short bloomer. I prefer the blue. There are people who dislike the smell of hyacinth. They do take over a room and when you come in from outside, the scent greets you.

The tulips planted in December are still in the cold room. I see one bulb tip is covered with rot. The others seem OK. The roots are not showing yet at the bottom of the pot. I still have tulip bulbs in the fridge to be planted in mid February, an experiment to get spring flowers that can go outside during the day.

It has been a good year for indoor bulbs so far. The three amaryllis were wonderful, the white the most beautiful. They were all regular size (ie too tall) and long lasting. Last year I bought the dwarf amaryllis and although they did not threaten to topple, they were short blooming. I planted one amaryllis late and slowly, slowly it grows. Then it will make a sprint and it will appear to lengthen before one's eyes.

What I have learned about growing bulbs indoors.
1) When you bring them out of the cold room, they like a cool place to start to grow. This fall I set the temperature in the porch too high (19 C) and the bulbs dried out fast. Now at 15 C they are slow but happy.
2) Bulbs need lots of water. if they do not get enough the flower may be malformed. You have to check them every day once they are out of cold storage.
3) Crocus - a few in a pot - are lovely and make great gifts. I like crocus better in a pot than I do outside in the spring where they are very short lived. They bloom early, before you are sitting out in the garden., and so get overlooked.
4) Hyacinth like small pots. Cosy pots. They just make too much leaf in large pots. Best would be just a bit larger than 4 inch and smaller than 6 – if possible. I believe they are loners and prefer to be single.
5) Very large pots of tulips may look good in the stores but this arrangement has been created after the plants are up. Planting large pots of tulips means that they flop around and do not flower at the same time. 6 inch pots are the best with three bulbs to a pot.
6)King Alfred daffodils are really a tall plant with a small flower, to my surprise. I thought they would be larger. I have not yet found the best daffodil for forcing.
7) Putting bulbs under grow lights seems to have little effect