Paper whites for the first time...

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During the Holiday Party at work last year there was an exchange of gifts, and for once I received one that I was excited about – a pot with three narcissus bulbs. I had always wanted to try these, but had never bought some because it seemed too good to be true, that they would be easy to grow…but they are! Though I received them in December, I didn’t get around to planting them until early January, after I had come back from El Salvador and spent a week in Boston for a convention. By that time, still in their gift container, they had begun to sprout, and whatever roots they had had were dry and shriveled. I wondered how they could have sprouted without water and then wondered about the roots – could these bulbs be spent already? Were they OLD bulbs? Did somebody go really super cheap with their Holiday exchange gift? Even if they grew, would they flower then? Hmmm…in any case, I decided to plant them in a glass bowl I have, so that I could see how much water they were in (I was scared I would rot them with too much water). I put in some orchid medium and nestled the bulbs close in, with their green tips towards the window, which gets sun in the morning. It has been about a month now since they were planted and I’m thrilled to report that it looks like they are growing well and will actually flower as well!! At least I hope so. Here are some pictures of my lovely paper whites as of February 2, 2013:

The roots are huge! Somehow I didn’t expect them to be so big:

I’m thinking these are flower buds among the leaves:

One more against the window:

• 2 Feb, 2013
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