Daffodils, hyacinths and tulips in midwinter? For many of us this would seem the stuff of fantasy, absent a visit to the florist. Yet, with only a modest investment of money, time and effort, even a beginning gardener can know the joy of bringing these and other spring bulbs into bloom during the coldest and darkest days of the year.

You can force a variety of spring-blooming bulbs in one giant container for a dramatic indoor floral show before the season officially starts in the garden.

Photo Credit: ©Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard

‘Yellow Cheerfulness’ daffodil is an excellent plant for winter forcing.

Photo Credit: International Flower Bulb Centre

Flower bulbs are little marvels. Those that grow in cold climates usually leaf and flower in spring, retreating from summer through winter to a tiny condensed underground storage organ known as a true bulb, corm, tuber or rhizome (we’ll just call them all bulbs here). Give them a warm summer followed by 2 or 3 months of chilly temperatures and moist soil, and they’re primed to grow and flower as soon as temperatures turn milder. By providing these cues, along with a nice pot, we can have them up and blooming indoors weeks (even months) before their outdoor kin make their appearances.

So what does it take to stage this little miracle? Aside from the bulbs themselves (which we’ll get to in a minute), you’ll need a container, some potting soil and a chilly place for the bulbs to cool their heels. Containers of various sorts and sizes will do fine, but wide shallow pots (sometimes known as “bulb pans”) are ideal. Look for something in the 6- to 8-inch-wide and 4- to 5-inch-deep range. Clay pots look especially nice and have the added advantage of not tipping as easily as plastic ones.

Almost any store-bought potting mix will work as long as it’s not too heavy and dense (you don’t want to drown your poor bulbs in a slow-draining soil). A fertilizer-enriched mix is not necessary, unless you’re planning to relocate the bulbs to the garden after they’ve bloomed.

Now for the star of your planting project: your plants!

Many bulbs “force” well. Perhaps the most rewarding are those that smell as nice as they look. Among these are numerous daffodils, including Narcissus tazetta hybrids like ‘Geranium’ and ‘Cragford’, the delightfully double-flowered ‘Cheerfulness’ and ‘Yellow Cheerfulness’ and ‘Sundial’ and other hybrids of N. jonquilla. Netted irises (Iris reticulata and hybrids) also offer beautiful flowers and a heady scent, as do many grape hyacinths and some tulips and crocuses. And of course there’s the bulb that practically defines floral fragrance – the hyacinth. Other bulbs worth trying include Grecian windflower (Anemone blanda), Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) and fumewort (Corydalis solida).