Experience joy of spring garden in January

Forcing spring bulbs into bloom before their scheduled time lets you experience the pleasures of the spring garden from January to April. "Forcing" consists of manipulating temperatures and light conditions to simulate the period of cold needed for the bulbs' annual test period, then awakening them earlier than would occur if they were planted outdoors.

The easiest bulbs to force are those that flower earliest in spring. The big three — daffodils (Narcissus spp.), tulips (Tulipa spp.) and hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) — are the most popular, followed by minor bulbs such as snowdrops (Galanthus), crocuses (Crocus spp.), glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa), Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) and grape hyacinth (Muscari spp.)

Bulbs can be forced in a variety of media, including — for paperwhite narcissus and hyacinths — water. Many nurseries that sell these bulbs also sell special "hyacinth glasses," which are cupped at the top to hold the bulbs securely. Wet sand, perlite and vermiculite work well, too.

When planting in a container that has drainage holes, first cover the holes with an inch or so of clay shards or nickel-size gravel. Add sufficient soil so that when the bulbs are placed on the soil their tips reach just above the rim of the pot, leaving the bottom of the bulbs about two-thirds of an inch below the soil.

Large daffodil bulbs can be potted with half the bulb above the rim to provide more room for roots. Pot the bulbs gently; do not press them into the soil. They should simply be supported with just enough sod to keep them at the proper level in the pot.

The soil mix for bulb forcing need not be especially rich — healthy bulbs have enough reserve food in their tissues to produce good flowers — but it should drain freely. A mixture of equal parts topsoil, peat moss and sand or perlite is fine.

At this stage a complete fertilizer — one that contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; e.g., 5-10-5 — is unnecessary, but a sprinkling of bone meal or rock phosphate mixed thoroughly into the soil will aid in the development of roots.

Water the pots well, then place them in a cool, dark area where the temperature remains 35 F to 45 F. Tulips need 12 weeks to 15 weeks of this cold treatment, while earlier-blooming daffodils need only eight weeks to 10 weeks. Paperwhites and precooled hyacinths can be forced without the cold period.

Some people are lucky enough to have a basement that maintains the proper temperature; the other option is to place the pots outdoors in a cold frame or to bury them in the ground.