Paperwhites are great for the holidays! All that white flower goodness and it just requires a simple procedure of putting the bulbs in some water and waiting for them to bloom! It takes 4-6 weeks for them to burst into flower, so planting some now will probably provide a Christmas week bloom!
A few stones in the bottom of a container help keep the bulb from laying directly on the water and rotting.
Here, I have included some of the bulb plantings created by Terrain in Westport. I hope it serves as some inspiration for you to design some plantings of your own! Choosing a pretty container for the holidays is certainly half the fun! With the cost of a paperwhite bulb under $2. a piece, you can have plenty of creative fun for very little cost.
The one annoyance of paperwhites is that they grow quite tall and all their weight is on the top. To avoid this, you can stunt the growth of the paperwhites height by using alcohol!
By using this method, the bulb will only grow 1/3 to 1/2 its normal height, but the flowers remain normal size!
After planting your paperwhites, the same as you usually would, you make a watering switch after the roots begin growing and the green shoot is 1-2 inches tall. At this time, pour off the existing water and replace it with a solution of water and alcohol. You can either use vodka and water (7 parts water to one-part vodka) or rubbing alcohol and water (13 parts water to one-part 70% rubbing alcohol). Then, just use whichever solution you have made to water the bulb for the remaining time.
I hope you are inspired to plant some paperwhites this week! Check your local garden store for some individual bulbs for sale.
Thanks for stopping by!
Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
