Holiday Blooms – Forcing Bulbs Indoors

by Brett Kerley

How to Enjoy Paperwhites, Hyacinths, and Amaryllis for Holiday Blooms — and Keep Them Thriving Afterwards

Few things lift the winter blues like a fragrant pot of blooming bulbs on the windowsill. Forcing bulbs indoors is a simple, rewarding way to enjoy spring’s promise when the snow is still deep. Whether you choose elegant paperwhites, colourful hyacinths, or the dramatic amaryllis, you can have blooms ready for the holiday season — and even save some bulbs for another year.

Here’s how to do it successfully, step by step.

Paperwhites are easy and fast to force because they don’t require chilling. They produce clusters of small, fragrant white flowers.

Origin: Native to the Mediterranean region, especially Greece, Morocco, and the Middle East.

History: Paperwhites are part of the larger narcissus family (which also includes daffodils). They’ve been grown for thousands of years — ancient Greeks prized them for their fragrance, and they appear in myth and poetry as symbols of renewal and purity.

Fun Fact: Unlike many spring-flowering bulbs, paperwhites don’t need a cold period to bloom, making them the easiest to “force” indoors.

How to Force Paperwhites

1. Container: Use a shallow bowl or vase without drainage holes.
2. Medium: Fill with pebbles, marbles, or decorative glass.
3. Planting: Nestle bulbs so the bottom sits just above the pebbles, then add water until it touches the bulb base (but doesn’t cover it).
4. Light & Temperature: Place in a bright, cool spot (around 15–18°C) until shoots are a few inches tall, then move to a sunnier, slightly warmer area.
5. Support: If they grow too tall and floppy, tie stems loosely with raffia or use a tall vase to help keep them upright. Raffia comes from the segments of the leaves on the Raphia Farinifera palm (commonly known as Raffia Palm) To hold up your paperwhite stems with raffia, tie a piece of raffia around the stems to support them, much like tying a ribbon or twine. This is a common practice when the stems grow tall and start to flop over. Forcing paperwhites to grow in a container with pebbles often helps to keep them stable, but tying with raffia provides additional, festive support as they grow.
6. Timing: Paperwhites take 4–6 weeks to bloom, so plant in early November for mid-December flowers.
7. Aftercare: These are usually treated as annuals and won’t reliably bloom again indoors. Compost them after flowering.

Hyacinths need a chilling period to mimic winter before they’ll bloom. They’Available in a range of colours (blue, pink, white, purple) with a wonderful scent.

• Origin: Native to the eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.
• History: Hyacinths were beloved in the Ottoman Empire and imported to Europe in the 16th century, where they became a status symbol during the Dutch Golden Age. In the 18th century, hundreds of named varieties were bred — much like the “tulip mania” craze a century earlier.
• Fun Fact: Hyacinths get their name from Greek mythology. The flower supposedly sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus, a youth accidentally killed by the god Apollo, making the plant a symbol of rebirth.

How to force Hyacinths

1. Chilling: Pot bulbs in soil (pointed side up) and keep them in a cool, dark spot (5–9°C) — an unheated garage, basement, or refrigerator works. Bulbs can be planted close together in a pot but should not touch, and 1cm of the bulb should be peeping out of the top of the soil.
   • Chill for 10–12 weeks until roots form and green shoots appear.
   • Keep soil just barely moist.
2. Bring into the Light: Once shoots are 2–3 cm tall, move pots into a bright, cool room for about a week, then into full sun to encourage flowering. If all goes to plan, they should flower in time for Christmas! Once they’re in flower, move them to a cooler part of the room to extend the flowering period.
3. Blooming: Hyacinths bloom in about 2–3 weeks after being brought out of cold storage.
4. Aftercare: Allow leaves to stay green until they yellow naturally, watering sparingly. Once foliage dies, remove bulbs from soil, let them dry, and store in a cool, dark place. Plant outdoors in spring; they may rebloom in future years, though flowers might be smaller.

The showstopper! Huge trumpet-like blooms in red, white, pink, or striped varieties. Amaryllis are the easiest of all large bulbs to force and don’t need chilling.

• Origin: Native to South America, particularly Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia.
• History: The name “amaryllis” comes from a Greek word meaning “to sparkle.” In Victorian times, amaryllis bulbs were considered a luxury holiday gift, shipped by boat from the tropics to Europe.
• Fun Fact: A single healthy amaryllis bulb can live and rebloom for decades if cared for properly — some gardeners have “heirloom” bulbs passed down through families.Potting: Use a pot just slightly larger than the bulb (about 5 cm clearance around). Plant so the top third of the bulb is above the soil line.

Forcing Amaryllis

1. Watering: Water once, then sparingly until growth appears.
2. Light: Place in a warm (20–22°C) bright spot to encourage sprouting.
3. Bloom Time: Expect flowers 6–10 weeks after planting.
4. Aftercare: Cut the spent flower stalk (not the leaves). Keep watering and feeding lightly all spring and summer. In late August, stop watering and allow leaves to die back. Store the bulb dry and dark for 8–10 weeks, then repot and start the process again — they’ll reward you with another round of blooms next winter.

• Stagger Plantings: Plant bulbs every two weeks in autumn for continuous blooms through winter.
• Rotate for Even Growth: Turn pots every few days to keep stems growing straight.
• Support Top-Heavy Blooms: Use stakes or tall vases to keep plants from flopping over.
• Fragrance Sensitivity: If hyacinth scent is too strong, display them in a cooler room you don’t spend all day in.

• Edmonton Area Garden Centres: Greenland Garden Centre, Apache Seeds, and Salisbury Greenhouses often carry a wide selection in fall.
• Farmers Markets sometimes have bulb vendors in fall
• Mail-Order Options: Veseys, Breck’s, or Van Noort Bulbs ship directly across Canada.

Forcing bulbs indoors is part science, part magic — and it’s a tradition worth embracing during our long Edmonton winters. With a little planning, you can have paperwhites blooming on the holiday table, hyacinths perfuming the kitchen in January, and amaryllis dazzling guests well into February.

Bring a bit of spring inside — your winter-weary soul will thank you.