IT'S OK TO FORCE THINGS IN QUEST FOR BLOOMS.Byline: - Carol Bidwell Bulbs don't have to be enjoyed exclusively by those with wide expanses of garden space or rich soil in the ground. Many also can be planted indoors, nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in shallow dishes or pots for the porch porch Roofed structure, usually open at front and sides, projecting from the face of a building and used to protect an entrance. If colonnaded, it may be called a portico. or patio patio In Spanish and Latin American architecture, a courtyard open to the sky within a building. A Spanish development of the Roman atrium, it is comparable to the Italian cortile but provides more seclusion, possibly due to Moorish custom. The patio of the contemporary U.S. . And for those without the patience to wait several months to reap the joy of seeing a bulb bulb, thickened, fleshy plant bud, usually formed under the surface of the soil, which carries the plant over from one blooming season to another. It may have many fleshy layers (as in the onion and hyacinth) or thin dry scales (as in some lilies)—both of which plant in bloom bloom 1. the general appearance of the surface. In carcass meat it is the glistening, transparent effect and the gentle pink color that gives a good bloom to the carcass. It is the result of proper tissue hydration coupled with the correct proportions of fat, connective tissue and , bulbs bow to your wishes when they're ``forced,'' compressing com·press tr.v. com·pressed, com·press·ing, com·press·es 1. To press together: compressed her lips. 2. To make more compact by or as if by pressing. 3. their usual seven-month growing season growing season, period during which plant growth takes place. In temperate climates the growing season is limited by seasonal changes in temperature and is defined as the period between the last killing frost of spring and the first killing frost of autumn, at which into three or four months. The time it takes each kind of bulb to flower indoors varies, but generally all that's required is that you crowd bulbs (leaving a pencil width between them) into a container about twice as deep as the bulb to allow the roots to develop. Fill the container about halfway with potting soil; place bulbs on top and sprinkle more soil to cover all but the tips of the bulbs. Water lightly, then create an artificial winter by placing the bulb-filled pot in a refrigerator or anywhere else the temperature stays between 35 and 50 degrees. Cover the pots with newspaper or a box so no light reaches them. Water every two or three weeks, or whenever the soil dries out. Check the pot in about eight weeks. When stems are about two inches high, some bulbs can be moved into a cool room with no bright light for a few weeks. Others can go directly into a sunny area. In a few weeks, bulbs will appear, and in a few more weeks, blooms will open. Some bulbs - hyacinths are easiest - also can be forced in narrow-necked vases that let the bulb rest with just its roots in water. And many home-decor stores carry shallow dishes for indoor bulbs; simply fill the dish with rocks or marbles, perch a few bulbs on top and add just enough water to graze the bottoms of the bulbs. Give the bulbs sunlight and watch them bloom in no time flat. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Many tulip tulip [Pers.,=turban], any plant of the large genus Tulipa, hardy, bulbous-rooted members of the family Liliaceae (lily family), indigenous to north temperate regions of the Old World from the Mediterranean to Japan and growing most abundantly on the steppes varieties among the forced bulbs available at home and garden centers. |
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