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Just after Thanksgiving, I plant pots of paperwhite narcissus bulbs to give as holiday presents. Many gardeners, familiar with the needs of spring-blooming bulbs for long underground chill periods, are surprised to find a narcissus that thrives and blooms indoors, after only 4 weeks of planting. Even with limited time, they bloom fast and are delightfully undemanding, unlike other holiday efforts.
Paperwhite narcissus (Narcissus tazetta) grow in warmer regions of Europe. Narcissus is the genus name for many spring bloomers variously called daffodils and jonquils. Most of the paperwhite narcissus bulb stock that reaches the United States comes from Isreal, where the climate offers perfect conditions for growing these tender beauties. The name of the strain most often shipped, 'Galilea,' testifies to their origin. Others are named 'Ziva,' 'Bethlehem,' and 'Nazareth,' but will generally be found at nurseries labelled only as paperwhites.
Select firm shiny brown-coated bulbs immediately at a nursery or garden center. If you want to gift yourself throughout the dark days of winter, buy enough to plant new pots every two weeks for a steady supply of flowers indoors. Store the unplanted ones in brown paper bags at room temperature -they do not require, and should not get, refrigerator cold storage.
You'll notice that paperwhite narcissus bulbs may have begun to sprout and send up shoots even before planting. Handle these carefully, and plant those with the longest shoots first.
Paperwhite narcissus will grow when planted either in bowls of pebbles, or in pots with soil. They're often sold in shallow bowls full of gravel. My preference is to plant them in soil in small pots; they seem to anchor better and tip over less frequently. But if you want to use gravel, fill the container about 2/3 with the gravel, settle the bulb with about ½ the bulb covered, and add water just to the level of the top of the gravel.
Keep them in a warm, light place and growth will commence immediately. This can work with holiday gifts such as coffee mugs; plant a paperwhite inside for a double gift of mug and fragrant flower. The peculiar aspect of paperwhite narcissus is that they will grow with roots in water, not requiring the good drainage that bulbs like tulips and crocus must get. You wouldn't be able to present a tulip in a coffee mug, because the roots would suffer from sitting in water. Paperwhites are agreeable, adaptable, and quick.
If using pots with soil, use ordinary potting soil. I like to use small pots about 5 inches in diameter. Fill the pot about 2/3 up with wet potting soil. Settle the bulbs firmly in the wet soil, and add more soil to cover the bulbs. Leave about 1 inch of bulb, and the emerging shoot, uncovered. Water thoroughly. A 5 inch pot will hold 3 or 4 bulbs, snuggled against each other. If they touch, it's fine. The effect when they bloom will be of a bouquet emerging from the pot.
After planting, place in a cool, light area indoors. Keep them watered, not allowing them to dry. Shoots will turn green and lengthen. Buds emerge in about 3 weeks, and the pot will bloom in 4 weeks. Pots planted now will be in full glory for New Year's Day.
To keep them in best bloom, place in cool locations at night or when they aren't on display. Left at room temperatures, the shoots elongate and can even grow so long they tip over the entire pot. If it's possible, set them in a cool place like a sheltered porch where temperatures are in the 40s and 50s to keep them in best condition. Bloom can go on for 3 weeks when they get some cool storage. Do not allow the pots to endure freezing temperatures; they aren't winter hardy and they will die with temperatures in the 30s.
After blooming, they can be allowed to grow on as a houseplant, with water and a little fertilizer to set blooms for next year. When the leaves begin to brown, which will be in March or April, stop watering and allow the bulbs to go dormant. Store either in or out of the pots in a dry place and replant in fall just as you did this year. I had a friend living in an apartment who tucked her gift behind a door after the shoots were brown, forgot about it, and found it again in October with new shoots starting up from the dry pot. So, in giving these paperwhite narcissus, you may be giving more than one season of pleasure.
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