How To Force Bulbs to Bloom

While you were pulling out your Christmas decorations, did you unearth a bag of tulip, crocus, daffodil or other bulbs that you bought last fall but forgot to plant?  Well, it’s not a problem if they have been hanging out in a cool place like your garage, basement, (or fridge!).  You still have plenty of time to plant those bulbs and force them to bloom this spring.  When we took our bicycle trip in Europe last fall, our bike guide Lea told us that she had grown up on a tulip farm in the Netherlands, and her parents still live there.  I was full of questions about growing tulips indoors, and Lea gave me some great tips, and said getting good results is really easy. By the way, the reason I want to grow tulips indoors rather than in our courtyard is because we have a few obese squirrels around here that would make a meal of the bulbs in about two seconds flat.  (For some reason, they don’t like daffodils, FYI).

 

Although I can promise that they probably won’t look as luscious as this tulip field Jordan and Yankee are hanging out in, you can have a nice bowl full of blooms to enjoy in your home.  It won’t take a lot of effort or supplies to make this happen.

 

 

 

I have several blue pottery mixing bowls in different sizes and selected the largest one to use as the container.  Since it will be a centerpiece on the kitchen or dining room table, I didn’t want to use just a clay pot.

 

Drainage is important for tulips, Lea explained.  She said they like a sandy soil, but since I didn’t have any sand on hand, I put a few hands full of styrofoam packing nuts in the bottom of my container.

 

 

Then I scooped enough soil to fill the bowl 2/3 full.  Lea said that tulips really don’t need good soil to bloom and flourish.

 

Next, I added the bulbs.

 

 

In order to have a lot of blooms in the spring, I added a lot of bulbs.  It is okay if they are crowded.

 

 

Then I topped them off with a final layer of soil and watered them just a little bit.  I won’t need to add much water while they are in the garage.  Maybe just once every three weeks or so.

 

 

This bowl will go back into our cold garage where they will have the temperatures they need to continue to sprout and eventually bloom.  Sometimes Mr. Right takes a few minutes to organize the garage to keep it looking spiffy.  I added a label to he will know it is a bowl of tulips rather than an abandoned bowl of soil leftover from a blog project.

 

Although our bulbs won’t ever look like this, if all goes well I will have some beautiful blooms this spring.  Being patient will be the hardest part of this project.  It will be a great way to have a little bit of my favorite country in our home.

 

Take care.

 

Linking to The Scoop at Stone Gable and Savvy Southern Style’s Wow Us Wednesday.