How to grow indoor hyacinths and narcissi for Christmas
Bringing flowering bulbs indoors over winter offers festive cheer and a tantalising whiff of spring. Clusters of sweet-scented hyacinths, willowy paper-white narcissi and bold, flamboyant hippeastrums are the prime candidates for forcing – in other words, coaxing them into flower earlier than their natural time. But other early spring bulbs, such as anemones, muscari, crocus and tulips (particularly the species or early-flowering varieties), can also be given the same treatment. The main consideration for cool-climate spring bulbs is that they must be allowed a substantial period of cold in their pot before bringing them inside, in order to replicate a normal winter. For many of us this just is not possible, especially if it is a mild autumn, so it is better to buy prepared or treated bulbs that have been pre-chilled. Of these, hyacinths are the most widely available.
Prepared hyacinth bulbs will have been pre-chilled for two months or more over the summer and are generally available from the end of August in the UK. For a Christmas display, plant them before the end of September into a box or container, using a gritty, peat-free compost or bulb fibre that has been well watered, as their growth can be stunted if the compost is too dry. Plant as many bulbs as will fit into the pot, placing them close to each other but not quite touching, with the tops of the bulbs just visible above the surface. At this stage, move the pots into a cool, dark shed or cellar, at a constant temperature of not more than 10°C, for eight to 10 weeks. Wrapping the pot in a dark plastic bin liner or covering it with newspaper can help to keep the moisture levels up, as well as providing the darkness needed for strong roots to form.
At the beginning of December, the pots can be brought out of storage and into the house onto a warm windowsill, where you can appreciate the emerging blooms and their heady perfume. Hyacinths can also be grown in old-fashioned forcing vases, with the base of the bulb sitting in water so you can see the roots forming. The same process of keeping them cool and dark applies. The only problem with using treated bulbs is that the selection of varieties can be limited. You will find classic varieties like Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Delft Blue’, ‘White Pearl’ and ‘Jan Bos’ available – as Christmas hyacinths from a specialist like Bloms Bulbs, for example – but few others. So, if you are willing to take the gamble, you could try treating your own bulbs, as long as you are able to get hold of them as early as possible in September. Put them in a paper bag in the fridge for four to six weeks and then plant them as described above. If they do not bloom in time for the Christmas period, you will still be happy to have them indoors in those long dark weeks before spring arrives.
MAY WE SUGGEST: Carlos Garcia's guide to decorating for Christmas
One of life’s simple pleasures is the scent from a bowl of winter paper-whites and these delicate Mediterranean daffodils (Narcissus papyraceus) are among the easiest of bulbs to grow indoors. As warm-climate plants, they do not need a period of chilling to set them into growth and they take just six weeks from planting to come into flower. You can plant them either in a gritty loam-based compost, or like hyacinths in glass vases with a 5cm layer of gravel or small pebbles for them to root into. In bowls or containers, start with a 2cm layer of potting grit, then place your bulbs on top of this, topping up with the compost mix until the bulb tips are just under the surface. If using vases, position the bulbs on top of the gravel or stones and top up with water to cover the first third of the bulbs – never higher as they need oxygen to grow and will rot if they are completely submerged.
In warm rooms, paper-whites have a tendency to grow tall and leggy and may start to keel over. There are various remedies for this, including feeding your bulbs with diluted alchohol, which will help to limit their growth. If you do not want to risk getting them drunk, the simpler option is to keep them in a cooler place as they grow, before bringing them into the warmth to create a Christmas display when they are in full bloom. Narcissus papyraceus ‘Ziva’, one of the best known paper-whites to look out for, is among the earliest to flower, with pure white, multi-headed blooms, while ‘Nir’ is a recent introduction with larger, more abundant flowers. Narcissus ‘Erlicheer’ is a double-flowered cultivar, with clusters of soft creamy white blooms with butter-yellow centres.
Hippeastrums (or amaryllis, as they are commonly known) are wonderful statement plants, fascinating to observe as their opulent petals unfurl. The large bulbs are usually grown one to a pot. They like to feel crowded, so give them a pot that is only a few centimetres wider than the bulb, but with space for the roots to spread out down below. They need plenty of nutrients to flourish, so they should be planted in a rich compost mixed with potting grit, with two thirds of the bulb below the compost and the top third above. Once they are planted, water the bulb thoroughly before setting the pot on a warm windowsill. Water again only when the shoots start to appear and sparingly once a week after that, with an added liquid fertiliser to maximise flower power.
Buying hippeastrum bulbs by mail order is easy from specialists such as Bloms Bulbs, with a wide choice of cultivars. For Christmas, you cannot go wrong with a classic crimson such as H. ‘Red Lion’, or create a mixed display with contrasting colours such as rose-pink H. ‘Misty’, greeny white H. ‘Evergreen’ or snow-white H. ‘Picotee.’
MAY WE SUGGEST: The prettiest spring bulbs to plant in drifts
Sabina Rüber1/9Lightly scented Hippeastrum ‘Misty’.
Sabina Rüber2/9Narcissus ‘Erlicheer’ produces clusters of fragrant double blooms.
Sabina Rüber3/9Hippeastrum ‘Matterhorn’.
Sabina Rüber4/9Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Royal Navy’.
Sabina Rüber5/9A hyacinth bulb growing in an old-fashioned forcing vase, which were popular in the Victorian period and are designed so the base of the bulb sits in water with the roots forming visibly below.
Sabina Rüber6/9Hyacinthus orientalis ‘City of Bradford’.
Sabina Rüber7/9The elegant blooms of Hippeastrum ‘Evergreen’.
Sabina Rüber8/9Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Rosette’ has pretty, scented flowers.
Sabina Rüber9/9Paper-white Narcissus ‘Nir.’
