Bulb Forcing

Of the 12 bulbs I forced I did get a few pretty ones. Three remain in the dark in the basement, one is below, and three waiting to emerge on the dining room table. The living room smelled wonderful today. I like the pastel ones the best. When I order some for the fall this year pink, yellow, and white might be my choices. Would also like to try tulips, anemone, narcissus other than paper whites, and dwarf irises. You can start pre-ordering fall bulbs in March. Longfield Garden and Brent and Becky's  already have fall bulbs on line. Brent and Becky's have pre-cooled bulbs that can be immediately forced because they've already been chilled. They're not shipped until mid December through mid January though.

It's recommended that hyacinths are chilled for 8-12 weeks in the dark in a cool refrigerator or room like a basement or garage that does not freeze. They can be forced in bulb forcing containers like mine in water, on top of pebbles with added water, or in soil. The water should not touch the bulb or it may rot. During this time they develop roots. After the 12 weeks they're brought into the light in a room that's warm but not hot to continue growing and bloom. I've read different length's of time for forcing hyacinths including up to 8-10 weeks.The bloom and flower stalk are already inside the hyacinth along with all the nutrients it needs to grow. So you would think that they all would emerge perfectly, but I've learned that if not given enough time to chill or develop roots I may not get the perfect looking bloom. As evidence above. The last 4 bulbs brought up from the basement are malformed. Was it a problem with the bulb or forcing? Although my hyacinths weren't started until November the flower stalk had emerged from the bulb before I brought them up stairs. This is recommended. They stayed in the dark on my cold sun porch until forced. Although not in water they had plenty of chill time and you can see the root development. There actually could have been a problem with the bulbs and not my forcing techniques.

There are many good sources of information about how to force bulbs. I'm no expert and still learning. Brent and Becky's has a good book on bulb forcing. There are also many other books on this topic. That book just happens to be the one I purchased several years ago. 

Some web sites that I like with good information on bulbs and forcing are Old House Gardens, White Flower Farm, and one blog that I stumbled upon garden within doors is all about a UK blogger's experience forcing bulbs every year. She has so much good information. Her blog about outdoor gardening is garden without doors. The bulb forcing containers she uses are pretty and colorful. Most of mine are clear factory manufactured glass but many of hers are blown antique glass ones she's collected. I love beautiful vases, glass wear, containers, and pots.

EBay is a good source for collectible vases but they can be expensive. There are also other online sources and of course antique and second hand stores. I located a company that has some new blown glass pastel forcing vases and the price isn't bad. I've also viewed expensive ones newly made. If I order some I'll post them to let you see how they look. 

It's hard for me to believe every year that before spring even arrives, that fall bulbs are on sale. But this is the time to get the best selection and your favorites before they sale out. Don't buy all of them before I order mine.

Small but pretty. As always, it smells wonderful.

Seedlings

Echinacea Prairie Splendor. I had to behavior at the garden center yesterday and not buy bare root echinacea. A bag of 12 was $14.99. Last season I didn't take care of my echinacea seedlings and they died. These have had the most germination from the 3 types sown for the past 2 years.

Vinca. Sowed 2 trays and these germinated. Will sow more. They usually do well but every season is different. Didn't show the geraniums. They all did poorly which is unusual. Hope to order and start more seeds but I may get a few from the ones I sowed.

Coleus

These are all supposed to be coleus but there are some tall ones that are definitely not coleus. Maybe I can identify them when they get their true leaves. The look like petunias but I don't usually sow different seeds in the same tray.

Lupines. I only sowed 12. If I get 5 to plant out that would be nice. Starting to get their true leaves in the center. An easy to seedling to identify by its true leaves.

Didn't think that foxgloves would do anything.  I may actually get a few. Afraid to transplant them yet. Two packs of seeds were sown but I guess only the strongest survived. Every time I try to take off the humidity dome they lay down so a dome still covers them.

African daisies were also thrown out. The seed didn't look viable from the packet it looked fragile and the 2 that germinated weren't healthy. I'll sow more from fresh seed. 

Saturday on the Porch

Yes I'm still planting bulbs and hoping they'll bloom in spring. As you can see they're still healthy. No mold, solid and most of the tops have started to emerge. Don't laugh. They're going in containers on the porch till spring. Ninety tulips, 40 irsis, and 20 crocus. I have to do better next year. 

Planted 6 containers and still have one bag of irises and 40 tulips left. I actually was in the garden center yesterday and following my instincts was a good thing. Summer bulbs have started to arrive. Bare root dahlias, echinacea, canna, peony, lilies, elephant ears, caladium, fruit trees, berries, onion sets, seed potatoes, starter hydrangea and many more plants and tons of seeds and seed starting supplies.

Trying to avoid an explosion of gnats multiplying. Have to find some newspaper to cover the containers but paper towel will do for now.

Hellebores's still pretty but brought with them a few gnats to the porch. That's not good. Isn't it too cold on the porch for gnats? I guess not.

They'll be planted in the yard in spring. I have a tiny one I bought on line 3 years ago that's still tiny and has not bloomed. Maybe these will do better since they're already big plants. Looking forward to seeing how they do in the yard this summer.

It's fifty degrees on the porch and beautiful outside but windy.

Spent most of the morning outside sweeping the front, raking leaves and bagging them up, trimmed the ornamental grass, removed the smelly ornamental kale from the containers, took down the Christmas wreath (yes it was still up and alive), wiped some things down, and finally inside for brunch.

Back to the poor excuse for hyacinths. What's the matter with them. I believe these were purchased later than my first order. Thought I was forcing the blue hyacinths but these have so far been shades of purple. Maybe I planted the blues outdoors. Spring will tell. Glad to keep my order on the computer because I won't be ordering hyacinths from this company any more. Plan to write a review on their web site and on Dave's Garden Watch when I look at my purchase order.

Hope they eventually look better than this when open. The few blooms that are open are smelling up the living room and smell wonderful. I have some on the desk in my office and they smell wonderful.

Paper whites finishing up. I enjoyed them this year.

Do you still have fall pumpkins? I think the squirrels in the yard would enjoy these. Have to get in the yard soon and put them out.

Lets hope the bulb emerges and it straightens up.

In the kitchen window waiting to be moved under plant lights. Still don't know what to do with them in regards to separating them.

They're stretching for the sun. What happened to the other seeds I started? White swan echinacea didn't germinate. I got tired of waiting and threw them in the trash. Was going to throw the purple cone flowers in the trash today but saw a few had germinated in the kitchen window. Impatiens may be trashed next. I bought fresh seed but they're taking longer to germinate than I was expecting. Petunias have also not germinated. Coleus doing well but still small. Don't have their true leaves yet. Some lupins have germinated. Only a few violas remain and they're starting to get their true leaves. I'll put them in 2 small pots hopefully this weekend. Begonias didn't do well this season at all. Thinking about starting some more. I'll show you how they're doing in another post. You started your seeds yet? I'd like to winter sow many of the rest I want to try but have to clean out some containers first.

The Hyacinth

How many times will you have to see this hyacinth? Well it's redeeming itself and is looking better and fuller today although not fully open. I ordered blue hyacinths though and this is purple. I did get bulbs from 2 sources so maybe this came from that batch. Won't know until the next one opens.