I had a favorite Aunt ( I was named after her) who had a great deal of joie de vivre. She had a way of living that celebrated in daily ways, and that made her a very charming person. She was also very accomplished, in almost everything she set her hand to, actually. She was a concert pianist, a smart business woman, and at one early point had worked for a hotel and could keep a home that Martha Stewart would have envied. I was always a little in awe of her.
During a short period of my life I lived in her home and during one winter day she surprised me with a pretty pottery container filled with pebbles and six bulbs halfway submerged in them. With the directions to place it on the windowsill and keep it watered, I experienced the discovery of how beautiful and fragrant blooming paperwhites could be.
Forced paperwhite bulbs bloom for a long enough time to really enjoy, but half the fun is watching them sprout from their plump brown globes to form the straight spears of bright green, then form their stalks of flower buds that burst open with the most elegant white blooms. They remind you of life and beauty every day that you see them perched on the window’s ledge.
Photo by Shelley Noble of notesfromhalfland.blogspot.com
Narcissus ‘Paperwhite‘ How -to
White Flower Farm detailed directions
- choose a watertight container or pot with saucer
- put layer of pebbles or river rocks 2 to 4 inches deep
- place the buls in with some stone, but leaving upper part of bulb exposed
- pour water to the level of the root at base of bulbs
- place somewhere cool and after rooted well, in a sunny spot
- enjoy
