Dr. Grow: Beating the wintertime blues: Bulb forcing offers spring indoors

Paper white narcissus can be started indoors in a pot before spring planting.

I'm sitting in my living room at home on a cold and dreary January afternoon. A glance through the patio doors reminds me of landscape scenes viewed on TV in the 1950s. Except for a splotch of red from a cardinal that occasionally flies by a door, all I see are shades of gray in my front yard.

The whole setting puts me in a melancholy mood. I've found that my mood is somewhat related to the intensity and color of light in my surroundings.

As I look through the days mail, I see a palate of bright colors on the pages of Shumways Seed Catalogue. Garden seed companies must read my mind. They send just what I need -- an aspiring for the ache in my soul.

If you're like me, you need more than an aspirin for the winter blues. You need a cure. You need to be energized by something that is lush green, growing, and colorful. Have you ever tried forcing bulbs at home? It's easy.

If you have never forced bulbs before, start with paperwhites. Go to your local garden center and purchase them in groups of 3's, 5,'s or 7's -- odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The number you buy depends on the size of the pot that you use.

Select a clay, ceramic, or metal that is two to three inches deep. The diameter is determined by the number of bulbs you buy. For example, us a 4 inch pot for 3 paperwhites. Make sure it has no hole in it.

Place one inch of pea gravel in the pot and then space the bulbs over the gravel. Next add another inch or two of pea gravel. When finished, one-half of the bulb should be covered with gravel.

Finally add water to the saucer. Bring the water level up to the top of the gravel. Now place the planted saucer in a warm place near a window.

Keep the water level up to the bottom of the bulb for the next few weeks. Before you know it, you'll have beautiful white blooms that emit a fragrance that pervades your home.

After you have forced the paperwhites, you may want to try tulips, hyacinths or crocus. Go to your local garden center and ask for bulbs that have been stratified and ready for forcing. Plant these bulbs and care for them just as you would paperwhites.

If the bulbs have not been stratified, you must prepare them for forcing. This step is required so that the bulb produces a normal size flower as it develops.

In order to stratify bulbs, plant them in pea gravel and water them as you would paperwhites. Place the entire planter in a paper bag and in the refrigerator for 13 weeks where the temperature is maintained at 33-40 degrees F.

After the cold treatment bring the planted bulbs out of the refrigerator and place them in a warm and well-lit area of your home. Water them as needed and watch them grow.

Don't let the winter blues get you down. Add color to your life by forcing spring bulbs in your home. Try it! You'll like it!

Paul Schnare of Cape Girardeau has been in the lawn and garden business for more than 20 years. He is an adjunct professor in horticulture at Southeast Missouri State University.