Indoor Scented Narcissus for Christmas

I love the smell of Narcissus and I also love the multiple clusters of tiny daffodils that make up the flower head. It's hard to decide on my favourite Narcissi as there are so many variations of size and colour, from gardients of pure white to bright yellow and any combination of the two.

Image via The Antiquarium

I'd like my flowers to be in bloom for Christmas and I want them in my kitchen where I can appreciate the smell. The ideal choice for indoor Narcissus are "Paperwhite" as they are very easy to grow, even if you are not a particularly skilled gardener, or as in my case, just a sporadic gardener. I opted for Naricissus Tazetta.

How to grow indoor Narcissus

• Obtain some good quality bulbs, choose a variety that are suitable for indoor growing, such as Paperwhite.
• You will need a pot or bowl. It doesn't necessarily need a drainage hole and the bulbs can be crammed in without leaving any space between them. All the nutrients the plant needs is stored in the bulb. You can get creative with your choice of container...how about using vintage teacups, jugs or old decorative tins?
• Place some growing material, such as a gritty compost, in the bottom of the pot. The amount depends on the size of your pot. You are aiming to have the tops of the bulbs sitting quite high in the pot and only the main body of the bulb covered in soil.
• Place as many bulbs in the container as you can fit in. Fill the gaps between the bulbs with the growing medium, being careful to leave the growing tips exposed.
• Water - not too much as you don't want the bulbs sitting in water and rotting - just enough to make the soil moist.
• The plants will need a position near a natural light source, such as a window sill.
• Water occasionally if the soil dries out.
• Once the stems have grown and are heavy with flowers, they can topple over. You may need to support them with a stick or piece of bamboo cane.

Hopefully I'll be blogging in December with pictures of my beautiful Paperwhite Narcissus!