I have not tried that or even thought about muscaris indoors but it's a great idea. I like them and having them more at eye level would be nice.

One year I filled three large, heavy planters with daffodils, tulips, muscari, etc and left them in our dark garage, thinking that they would “wake up” in Spring.

Well they started growing way too early, and I ended up having to take them outside every morning, and back in the garage at night for over a month!

They were beautiful but I promised myself that I would try with much smaller pots.

These are under grow lights, near a window so they should be fine. It’s so much fun to watch their progress!

I do hyacinths every year. They go into a shed rather than the fridge. It's cold enough out there but not so cold they freeze.

Wow the roots on these hyacinths! Please post a pic when they’re blooming!

They look great! No bulbs this year, just a few things I keep under lights all winter plus an odd thing or two which just show up anyway. Seeing your pots though makes me think I've made a mistake!

Perhaps I'll pick something up when they start showing up in the stores, but at that point I might as well just get cut flowers. One of the best things for me about forced bulbs is the anticipation from the first sprout to the buds to the bloom!

I do have a few amaryllis waking up, maybe that counts :)

@katob: yes, and it’s so much fun to see something grow so fast indoors when everything is under a heavy blanket of snow.

I think I need to get into house plants. And maybe participate in the Ten Days of Plantness next year too! :)

https://katob427.com/2024/01/17/the-10-days-of-plantness/

I’m a faithful reader of your blog btw!

haha, thanks! High praise from such a talented gardener!

I think I'd go crazy if I didn't have something growing along indoors during the winter. Even with interesting things coming along above (or under) the snow I still get bored if there's not something new to see every few days, so a couple fast growing houseplants go a long way.

@katob: thank you!! Yes, I get bored too, then I look at plants and seeds catalogs and I add to cart. This boredness is dangerous for my wallet! lol!

Today I planted 3 anemone blanda corms in a pot. I hope they will do as well as my muscaris, which are already pushing out buds! 😍

So true! I think my indoor plants have actually saved me a bunch of money over the years. If I'm busy repotting something or taking a few cuttings it distracts me from that daylily order I have no room for or the dahlias that I'm never going to stake or properly care for. Looking forward to the muscari blooms!

I've had an amaryllis or four in my life, and once or twice tried paperwhites (hated the smell!) but I don't do much forcing. It is a lovely idea and when it works it's wonderful - both the anticipation and the actual blooms. The last two years have been too busy for me to do much plant-related winter things - for goodness sake, this year, not only have I NOT started my wintersowing yet, but I haven't even purchased my seeds yet! What is becoming of me??!!

Kato I don't get to your blog as nearly as often as I'd like to, but of course took advantage of maz's link above. Can I just say I did literally laugh out loud at this:

"... “I don’t have room for anymore plants”… is not an excuse. Buy something you’re very likely to kill is what I suggest...."

Well in that case maybe I can participate after all, since my doorway is the Threshold of Doom to any plant that enters.

Maz your crocus look absolutely lovely and exciting (and my gosh everything is so clean and neat! My pots, even my few-and-far-between indoor ones, seldom look so pristine!) and I hope you post when they bloom! We can anticipate vicariously through you!

:)

Dee

@Dee: thank you, the pots are new because I didn’t have any!

Here’s a picture of the buds pushing through:

This one is starting to show color:

Maz....those are great looking pots! I'm looking forward to seeing them blooming!

Floral ... Hyacinths are my favorite to have indoors in the winter.

I don't normally force bulbs in winter. I don't have the right space to keep them cool enough without freezing. This year I bought some pre-cooled bulbs from Brent & Becky's to pot up for someone. I didn't realize how much work they were...lol. I bought too many and thought I'd grow them in water in vases, but, I ended up having to pot them all up and find pots, etc.

I think next time I will just buy pots of bulbs already started. [g]

I've already given away a couple of pots, here is a sample of what I have growing....

@prairie: that is so pretty!! And they’re already blooming! 😍

I think I will force bulbs every year, but I’ll stick with the small ones, as they’re much easier to plant and take less space.

Maz.... I had some pink hyacinths but I gave those away. And I have some mini daffs that are potted and are just starting to show. Those were very small bulbs too.

The daffodil that is in bloom, is actually out of my front garden. I was renovating an area in my perennial bed in the fall and I came across bulbs that I forgot were there. And being in a hurry, I just took a 5 gallon bucket of potting soil and layered them in there until I could get around to replanting them. Then I completely forgot about them until December. We found them when I saw something growing in the bucket...lol. So I had no choice, and had to pot those up and let them finish growing. They were too far along to replant outside. So I'll just keep watering these and replant them in the spring. I won't get blooms from them this year but they should be fine for next year.

@prairiemoon: potted bulbs make such great gifts, don’t they? I gifted one pot of muscaris to my son’s teacher.

When I brought it to school, I got a lot of ho’s and ha’s! It gave me the idea of buying a lot of very small pots next year, with maybe just 5 muscari each so that I could bring joy to more people!

I’m regretting not thinking about it earlier! Better late than never right? :)

Yes, a small pot of growing bulbs is a pretty inexpensive special gift. I happen to have family members that have low light homes or cats. I tried a pot with the low light situation and they didn't grow half as well as mine did. And I'd never give one to the cat owners. But aside from those restrictions, what is better than a taste of an early spring indoors?

Floral, do you throw them out when they are done or replant in the garden?

I usually buy potted hyacinths ready to bloom in March and then when they are done I plant out in the garden. I've had a lot of success doing that. But I have't tried starting them in the house in water and then planting them out.

I replant in the garden as soon as the flowers go over. All the hyacinths in my garden began life in glasses.

Thank you @floraluk2! These are beautiful!!