A Garden Party: How to Force Paperwhites

Last Updated on April 27, 2022 by Ellen Christian

I love flowers and one of my favorite things to do when I have time is to play in the garden and admire what’s growing. I generally have flowers spring, summer and fall in my garden. Winter is another story. Winter in Vermont usually lasts from October to April. We’ve had snow as early as September and as late as May before. For the most part, nothing grows in the winter so I learned how to force paperwhites so I have some flowers in the middle of the winter.

A Garden Party: How to Force Paperwhites

Paperwhites are grown from a bulb and are a member of the daffodil family.  They can be forced to bloom indoors fairly easily. Since I thought some of my friends might miss the flowers this winter too, I invited a few people over to have a garden party with me and start some paperwhites.

How to force paperwhites:

• Choose a container that is at least 3 to 4 inches deep.There should be no drainage holes so if there are in yours, cover them up with something.
• Spread about 2 inches of stones in the bottom of the containers.
• Place the paperwhite bulb on the stones with the pointy end up. That’s where the plant with grow. You can put more than one in a pot if your pot is large enough.
• Fill in the gaps between the bulbs with stones and fill the rest of the container until about the “shoulder” of the bulb. Make sure that the tips show.

• Add water until the water reaches the bottom of the bulb.
• Keep the bulb cool (65F) and out of direct sunlight. Check the water level daily.
• When you see roots developing, move the bulb to a sunny window. Don’t let them get too warm or they will get leggy.
• If they become top heavy, you can gently tie them to a chopstick for support.

We decided that we would paint the little pots that we were starting the paperwhites in to bring even more color to our homes this winter.   Acrylic paints work perfectly for this and you can paint the designs with a sponge brush or a paint brush depending on what you want the design to look like.

Everyone had a great time painting and planting their paperwhite bulbs. They should flower within about a month from the time that we planted them so right about when everything is dead outside, I’ll start seeing flowers inside. To keep a constant bloom of flowers, just start a few new bulbs each week, The flowers will last the longest after they bloom if you  move them out of direct sunlight and keep them cool.

Of course, painting is messy and I was glad I had a Delta Touch faucet to make it easier. There is no need to get paint all over the faucet with the Delta Touch faucet because it can be turned on with a simple touch – whether that’s with your hand or your arm if your hands are messy. Delta Faucet helped make this mess a HappiMess.

Why do people treat mess like it’s a bad thing? It’s actually the evidence of a life well lived. When you’re out there making, creating, doing and playing, embrace your #HappiMess and let Delta kitchen and bath innovations help clean up so you can do it all again tomorrow.

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