How to Grow: Paperwhite Narcissus

In this podcast, learn how to grow Paperwhite narcissus and how to force them indoors for winter blooms

If want to add some fragrant, holiday flowers to our home, grow paperwhite narcissus. Paperwhites are small flowered daffodils and feature fragrant flowers. The beauty of paperwhites is they’re easy to force into bloom indoors this time of year. Simply pot them up and they’ll be in bloom 3 to 4 weeks later.

While we think of white as the flower color of paperwhites, there are other varieties. Try the yellow flowered ‘Bethlehem’ or white and yellow flowered ‘Chinese Sacred Lily’. Some varieties even have double flowers.

The attractiveness of the scent seems open to debate. I love them, but my wife doesn’t. Our paperwhites end up in my office when they’re in full bloom for this reason.

But they are easy to grow. Either pot them in a container filled with moistened potting soil or grow them in vases with water. Fill the vase so the water is just below the bottom of the bulb and the paperwhites will grow to the water. Place the pot or vase in a bright window in a cool room. Lack of light or temperatures above 65F will cause paperwhites to grow leggy. You may need to support the flower stalks with a stakes as well. To keep the plants stocky grow paperwhites in an alcohol mixture. Mix 1 part 40% distilled liquor spirit with 7 parts water to get a 5% alcohol solution. When the shoots are 2 inches tall, replace the water with this alcohol mixture and the plants will stay dwarf. Paperwhites are not hardy outdoor bulbs, so after forcing them indoors, simply toss them in the compost pile.

Excerpted from the Connecticut Garden Journal