Persuading bulbs to bloom

terrific article about bulb forcing...



The New York Times
Persuading Bulbs to Bloom
By ANNE RAVER
Published: October 29, 2008

GENTLER, kinder people don’t say “forcing” when they talk about planting bulbs indoors. They use words like “coaxing” and “persuading.”

Poppycock. If you are putting bulbs in the refrigerator or some other cold place that hovers around 40 degrees, you are tricking them into a false winter of dormancy and forcing them to bloom when you bring them out into a warm room.


I don’t know if the bulbs are screaming or singing for joy that they get to bloom early on a windowsill or a table. I don’t care about their feelings. Those bulbs are keeping me from the gloom and doom I feel on dark winter days.


One fall, I made the mistake of not forcing any bulbs, and the holidays seemed a little empty, sort of like the Thanksgiving I decided to cook pork roast instead of turkey.


The rest of the article can be viewed here