Emulating nature, gardeners enjoy blooms throughout winter months; it's not that hard to do

N. romieuxii, a miniature Narcissus, is an early favorite.
(Page Dickey courtesy photo via The New York Times)

As fall turns to winter, many people will long for fresh air, warm breezes and the blooming flowers of spring long before Old Man Winter releases his grasp. One solution to winter's fog is learning to force some bulbs to bloom out of season, reports Margaret Roach of The New York Times.

Page Dickey, a garden writer and designer alongside Francis Bosco Schell, a retired book editor and lifelong gardener, provides Roach with their ways of enjoying blooms. First, some bulbs are more easily convinced to bloom out of season than others. Dickey perused bulb catalogs "carefully noting any varieties whose descriptions hint at their adaptability to forcing — or being coaxed into extra-early bloom."

Bulbs also need a chill period before planting and in cooler regions that is more easily created. The cooler temperatures "trick" bulbs into thinking it's winter. White Flower Farm's website advises, "Pot the bulbs in any well-draining potting mix, water them, and set them aside in a cool dark spot for the required minimum time." Roach reports, "The goal is to put the pots in a protected place where they won't freeze, but will stay very cold — above 32 degrees, but below 50. Somewhere from 40 to 45 degrees is probably ideal."

"Dickey has learned some of what she knows by researching, but most of it by trial and error, she said, and she finds that most varieties want about 12 to 14 weeks' chill," Roach reports. "The earliest in-ground bloomers will need fewer weeks of cold when forced, before they are ready to start flowering — meaning, a crocus blooms faster than a daffodil. And because the bulbs would normally be underground, where no light reaches them, we chill our pots in darkness."

Cold frames are key to coaxing early blooms.
(Page Dickey courtesy photo via The New York Times)

The best ally for off-seasonal blooms is the "cold frame. . . . Generally, a prefabricated model will be about 18 inches tall on the highest side, its lid slanting downward to a foot or lower," Roach adds. They can be built relatively easily. "Whatever the dimensions of your cold frame, there's one caveat: Never leave the lid all the way open when pots are inside, or a storm could soak them. Also, position the frames where they can get good sun. Ideally, the low end should face south or west." Dickey goes through a process of "emulating" Mother Nature's dormant period for bulbs within the cold frames.

Once October comes, the bulbs are planted, and throughout winter, Dickey pulls pots out to warm them and beckons their blooms to come forth. Although it's a step-by-step process, none of it is hard. "Crocus and Iris reticulata will be the first pots she pulls out, in late January or so, transitioning them gradually to increasingly warmer spots indoors," Roach writes. "A few weeks later, they’ll be the first to bloom. Eventually, the latest-blooming forced pots will overlap with the start of the main bulb displays out in the garden."