Paperwhite narcissus

Nothing is sweeter than the scent of paperwhite narcissus blooming indoors at Christmas.  The bulbs are sold in the fall for about a dollar each, and it only takes five or so to make a nice pot.

There are just two types of bulbs for indoor growing: those you need to pre-chill and those you don't.  Bulbs like amaryllis, freesia, and paperwhites are tropical varieties. These zone 8 to 9 bulbs don't like winter, so they don't expect a cooling period like tulips or hyacinths. 

You can plant paperwhites in a shallow bowl and just use pebbles to hold the bulbs in place. No soil required, because this is a one-shot display. They'll usually bloom in a few weeks.

Mine never look this good-- the stems flop over right before they bloom.  I read this morning that to  keep the stems short and sturdy, the bulbs should have indirect light and temperatures of about 50 degrees for the first two weeks, then warmer, brighter conditions after that.

Or you could plant them in a tall vase like this clever person and they can flop around all they want.

The weather here is perfect for indoor bulb growing and I put my dish of paperwhites in the chilly corner of the kitchen green house window for now. They seem slow to sprout this time, which I think is a good sign.

It's still very cold and we've had snow on the ground of several days, which is unusual in Seattle. This is the first morning since Saturday with the temperature above freezing, and that California rain is headed north.