My bulb obsession

Fall and winter are my favorite times of year, mostly for the weather, but also because I can force bulbs. I am partial to antique bulbs, which not only fill my garden, but are often what I force indoors. I have a non-frost-free (doesn't suck up the moisture) refrigerator in my garage (if you live in a colder climate, you can just stick the pots in your basement), where I keep pots of narcissus, tulips, and crocus. When they are chilled, I put them into a transition room--a place with low light--for a week, then bring them out to bloom.

I also chill antique hyacinths, which I grow in Victorian reproduction forcing vases and French jam jars, and I do the non-chilled seasonal paperwhites and amaryllis, though--for some reason--this year, my paperwhites didn't bloom. Around Christmas, I usually have paperwhites and amaryllis (actually they are called "hippeastrum," but everyone calls them amaryllis, which is really a different plant) all over the house. In January and February, the hyacinths take over, followed by narcissus, and then tulips.

It takes a bit of experimenting to get the temperatures, the chill periods, and the bulb selections right, and even with the most careful preparation, bulbs sometimes seem to have minds of their own. The results, however, are well worth the time and research. The Victorians were obsessed with nature, and filled their homes with bulbs, terrariums, pressed flowers, and illustrations of botanical specimens. Maintaining such collections requires creativity on the part of the collector, and can even provide the forgotten thrills of childhood gathering and sorting. At any rate, bulb forcing gives me a much needed break from thinking about the collapse of society.