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Oh the rains, they have begun. Nothing puts more of a damper on putzing around in the garden like a torrential downpour.
When the weather doesn't co-operate with physically spending time outside, consider fun gardening projects you can do inside.
I am not talking about sitting in a hot bath with a glass of wine and some garden books (although that's fun too), I am talking about forcing bulbs indoors.
Forcing bulbs is easy and fruitful. There is a large variety of spring flowering bulbs that can be forced into bloom mid-winter when the added colour and growth is a real shot in the winter gardener's arm.
Some require minimal effort, while others require a bit of pre-planning, usually in the form of pre-chilling.
The easiest ones to start with are the spring bulbs that require no pre-chilling. Bulbs like amaryllis, freesia (heavenly scent) and paper whites do not require a cold period to force them into bloom.
These bulbs are only hardy to zone eight or nine so wouldn't survive a serious chill like our regular bulbs we put in the ground outside.
Pot the bulbs in an interesting container in either sterilized soil or water. I love the look of bulbs in a low square glass pot, as the sprouting under the soil or water is almost as interesting as the bloom at the top of each bulb.
If potting the bulbs in water, try to squeeze them tightly together - or you can stabilize them with small pebbles so they don't jostle around.
Pour in water to cover the bottom half of the bulbs. Do not fully submerge.
Place your container and bulbs in a cool area with indirect light for the first two weeks.
You should see the bulbs sprout within a week or two of your planting date. Keep the sprouted plants to a cool 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
After two weeks you can move them into direct light and give them regular inside temperatures. The plants will generally flower about four weeks after planting.
If it sounds easy and you want to try something a bit more challenging, you can choose varieties of bulbs to force that require a pre-chilling period.
You will need to fool these bulbs into thinking they have gone through winter in the ground.
Choose bulbs like hyacinths, crocus, daffodils and tulips to pre-chill.
Chill the bulbs by potting them in shallow planted soil and putting the pots in a cool location. The best temperature for chilling is about 40 degrees F. Keep them as close to this temperature and do not let the bulbs freeze.
You will need to chill the pots for about 12 weeks but the length of time will vary based on the type of bulb you use. Check on the pots occasionally and make sure they stay moist and do not dry out.
After the minimum chilling period has been attained, bring the pots in. Place them in a warm sunny window and watch the bulbs begin to awaken and then bloom.
You can successfully chill the bulbs before potting, but you will have to pot them eventually so it doesn't save you much energy.
Do not chill the bulbs in a fridge with fruits and vegetables, as the gasses they give off interact with the bulbs and they will fail to bloom.
Once your pre-chilled bulbs start to bloom, you can move them to a cooler part of your house to extend the bloom time.
Happy chilling.
