Saturday, February 12, 2011

My bowl of Chinese narcissus

Last Tet 2010, I tried to force some Chinese narcissus bulbs to bloom but I was unsuccessful since the weather in Saigon was not suitable for this kind of bulbs. Though I could see many bloom stalks from the bulbs, none of them mature enough to blossom.
This Tet, a friend from the North was kind enough to offer my two bulbs so that I could try again. I didn't have time to apply the "carving method", so I chose a safer way to force the bulbs in pebbles and water, without "carving". Also, this Tet, I left the bulbs in Tuysonvien where the weather is always cool.


My bulbs grew and produced the first bloom on February 9th. Although it was late for Lunar New Year day, I was extremely happy that I could now have Chinese narcissus blooming in my home.
I really love the little white blooms, with yellow centers, amid the green foliage.


The scent? Well, to tell the truth, its scent is not my favorite, though!

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

Oh wow you have gotten some narcissus bulbs as well! For mine as you have seen, three bulbs bloomed. But the other two have not. So I am still waiting. The scent is like Jasmine... nope?

Hà Xuân said...

I don't know how to describe the scent. But I believe the scent gets weaker and so is more agreeable to me as the blooms mature.
Are you forcing your bulbs in water, Steph?
I think the weather this year is much cooler in our region so the bulbs can bloom. Many people I know have their bulbs bloom around the country as well.

Kris said...

I used to give pots of spring narcissus to friends for Valentines day until I found out that I'm probably the only one who actually likes the fragrance. LOL

Stephanie said...

The bulbs came with soil so I just continue planting them in soil. But no new blooms showing from any of the narcissus bulbs yet. Probably the warm weather here is stopping the growth of new buds. Leaves are in good shape though.

Btw, I manage to root hyacinth bulbs in the fridge! I have taken one bulb out as I saw shoot growing out of the nose. I am keeping my fingers crossed to see its blooms soon. If everything goes well I will share in my next post ;-)