Stripping Down and Going to Pot

Trash night tonight, so “we” (that’s Dave) cut down a couple barrels full of spent Sedum ‘Autumn Joy,’ Chinese lanterns, phlox, balloonflower, and tall Aster tataricus. “We” also planted some more bulbs, caught up more fallen leaves and last-gasp grass for the compost pile, and wrestled more fallen logs out of the creek. … hardly glorious jobs! But we keep telling ourselves how glad we’ll be in the spring.

While potting up some bulbs for forcing indoors, it occurred to me that not everyone may know how to do it. For instance, did you know that tulips go in the pot a special way? A tulip bulb sort-of resembles the letter “C.” The back of the “C” is described by plantsmen as the flat side, and that is placed facing the side of the pot (so you have a circle of “Cs” that face inward). The reason for this is that the first large lower leaf to emerge from the tulip will come from that flat side, and it will flop over the edge of the pot to soften the edge.

For a 6” pot, I use 6 tulips or 6 daffodils. If you’re using a shallow bulb pot, the tips of either of these two bulbs can just show on the surface of your potting mix, as long as there’s about two inches of soil for the roots below. Smaller bulbs? They should be buried. After you’ve covered everything with the potting mix and watered thoroughly, place the pots where the temperature will remain between 35 and 50 degrees F for the next 12 to 16 weeks. (I use an outside window-well with leaves on the top of the pots.) During these weeks, roots will form and the stem will elongate. Make sure to mark on your calendar when to pull the pots out.

When pots are brought into the warmth and light, leaves and flowers will form, and exposed shoots will turn green in 60-65 degree rooms. The light should be indirect, and the pots should be rotated for even exposure. Keep soil and pot moist, and flower buds will appear in three to four weeks. Once in flower, the bloom will linger longer if things are not too warm – or if you move them to a cooler room at night. Tulips or hyacinths will not transfer too successfully to your outside garden after being forced, but daffs and the little bulbs will ultimately take hold outdoors if you want to plant them after their first season of bloom indoors.

Of course, I can never resist a few paperwhites in pebbles and water. These don’t require the chilling, so you can stick them in a 50-60 degree low-light place for two to three weeks while roots form. (In our house, that’s the laundry room in the basement.) Then, the introduction of warmth and light (upstairs) will speed them into bloom … makes a great gift at Christmastime if you start them the first or second week of December.