Hyacinth bulbs begging to be forced in water
Photo: Chronica Domus
Last weekend while tidying up the basement, a place that can all too frequently become a groaning repository for the flotsam and jetsam of the household, I came across two forgotten brown paper bags. I was agasp to discover that the bags were filled with the hyacinth bulbs I had purchased last November. My intention was to force them in water at the beginning of the new year, much as I've done each January for as long as I can remember. Obviously, something had gone awry in my plan, as here we are in mid-February without a hyacinth in bloom.
Dashing back upstairs, paper bags in hand, I was determined to mend the error of my careless ways and quickly set forth in search of suitable containers to house the bulbs. As the hyacinths would ultimately be displayed in my kitchen, where they would be enjoyed daily once in bloom, I dug out two copper food molds from the kitchen cupboards, an unusual choice I'll admit, but appropriate for the setting.
Two antique copper food molds are pressed into service as impromptu hyacinth forcing containers
Photo: Chronica Domus
I've long had a weakness for such interesting geometric molds and could not resist buying the large nineteenth century example, shown in the preceding photograph, from a little antiques group shop in Hertfordshire, England many years ago. I made a promise back then that I would not succumb to the pitfalls of yet another collection. This would be a "one off" I told myself. I've mostly stuck to my guns, I am pleased to report, and only added the small mold when I saw it for a snip in a thrift store recently (how could I have possibly left it?) .
The prepared containers ready to receive their bulbs
Photo: Chronica Domus
I lined the molds in plastic, and added the stones that I save from year to year that help secure the bulbs in place and anchor the roots when they begin to sprout. I tucked four purple hued Splendid Cornelia hyacinths into the large mold, and a single plump one in the smaller example, topping both off with enough water until the base of each bulb barely touched the water line.
Now I wait, patiently, in anticipation of the promise of pretty blooms and the intoxicating sweet smell of these late winter gifts from nature.
Fingers crossed that these hyacinths will eventually bloom
Photo: Chronica Domus
Did you remember to buy and plant or force your hyacinth bulbs this winter?
I did something similar with my tulip bulbs last Winter. I put them in the crisper drawer of my fridge and then forgot about them. Here we don't get a cold enough ground temperature to get the bulbs in soil off to a good start, so I had planned to plant them in a bowl outside for some Winter colour. It ended up being very late Winter colour! I think they might have been in the crisper for 4 months! And then once they bloomed it was already becoming so warm outside the display didn't last very long at all. This year I'll remember! Love the copper jelly moulds too!
ReplyDeleteHello Heidi,
DeleteAh, the lengths we gardeners go to for the sake of a beautiful flower! I too have filled my crisper drawers with bulbs in years past, at least the ones I had ordered that were not "pre-cooled". I've wised up over the years and now only buy them from a local nursery that stock appropriately pre-cooled bulbs for our area. The tulips I purchased and planted in November are finally breaking through the soil, at least the foliage is. We'll see if the flowers emerge along with it soon.
Hello CD, What a perfect use for those copper molds; they will look charming once the flowers blossom. I regretfully have never done any sort of bulb-growing. It is kind of like your resistance to buying more kitchen molds--I love reading about horticulture, but I am afraid that I will get too into it once I start.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for having the energy to clean your basement. I have a back room with the same function, and perhaps I'll follow your example and tackle it using the quiet time around Chinese New Year.
--Jim
Hello Jim,
DeleteOne of the best aspects of horticulture is that one can reasonably control how far into the pursuit one goes, as both time and space (and money I suppose) will dictate. So, fear not, a few bulbs in a window box or indoor pots will not turn you into a crazed gardener. Do try it and see and I promise it will be very rewarding.
Now, as far as energy levels and tidying up the basement go, I'd rather be gardening.
Love the moulds! I was going to do something but then of course I got distracted so now it's too late. We did put tulip bulbs in a little light well but that just didn't work at all and we haven't seen even a sprout! I am now just buying tulips instead!
ReplyDeleteTulips can be a bit finicky if growing indoors and your idea of buying them by the bunch works perfectly well indeed. We have a terrific flower market in San Francisco and there is nothing more I like at this time of year than perusing the stalls looking for just the right shades of tulip to bring home with me. Heaven!
DeleteBeautiful copper moulds - I remember you commenting on them recently, but I can't remember exactly in relation to what right now. Your kitchen will soon be heavenly-scented.
ReplyDeleteHello columnist,
DeleteI believe the comment was in relation to the beautiful copper molds for sale at the reopening of the Williams-Sonoma store that I wrote about here:
http://chronicadomus.blogspot.com/2014/10/home-at-last-reopening-of-chuck.html
and also, about the copper mold vendor at the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show, here:
http://chronicadomus.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-visit-to-san-francisco-fall-antiques.html
I'm just happy that I've managed to put the molds to good use (another case of "Relics Reimagined"), much like my recent post on the ink well:
http://chronicadomus.blogspot.com/2015/02/relics-reimagined-inky-arrangement.html
Great moulds!!!! I tried this last year in a container too small and it tipped over while I was away (harming the finish on my grandmothers childhood bookcase! ARGH)... These look adequately scaled. They do love to start before the time.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I'm sorry to hear of the damage caused by last year's forcing attempts. I do hope you'll give it another shot as the rewards are tenfold the effort involved in forcing them, and the smell is divine.
DeleteBrilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you, J.W., let us hope it works!
DeleteThere is so much elegance and calm about everything you do! And I love this idea very much. I planted mine a couple of years ago, just to have something beautiful to look at. And my little bulbs turned into hyacinths, daffodils and crocuses of all kinds and best of all, decided to "live long and prosper" :)
ReplyDeleteThey are just so gorgeous, aren't they? x
Thank you, Natalia. I find enjoyment in the simple (and calming) aspects of life that is for sure, and these beautiful bulbs are part of that philosophy. They bring beauty to any corner of the house, and one's life I suppose.
DeleteI'm glad you've grown them too and have reaped their benefits.
I'm amazed at your repurposing of everyday objects. You're on a roll!
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of hyacinths. We have under-planted our horse chestnuts with pink ones, and have blue ones mixed in with bluebells in our bluebell walk. They seem to do well outside, but haven't tried them inside yet. We haven't had much luck with our tulips. Other than the first year they have rather sulked! Think it was very wet the winter after we planted them.
Hello Lord Cowell,
DeleteYes, it does seem that I'm on a bit of a roll with my re-imagining of relics lately. However, these molds, as beautiful as they are to look at, are probably not fit for food as their tin lining has worn quite substantially over the years (at least with the larger one). I've always admired the rows upon rows of copper molds in historic house kitchens (Brighton Pavilion, for example), and in another life, my kitchen may have been overtaken by them - some are very whimsical in form.
I have admired your bluebell walk from your photographs (such a lovely thing to have), and rather miss the bluebells of my youth. Tulips, as you've found out, are difficult to coax back from year-to-year and you'd be better off replanting annually. This, of course, is not the case at all with narcissi, my favorite of the bulbs. Most love to naturalize over time.
CD,
ReplyDeleteI have never forced hyacinths, I love the flower so I have no excuse other than to say I've usually bought the paperwhite bulbs and the occasional amaryllis bulb and forced them for Christmas. I didn't even look at bulbs this winter, now I wish I had. I'll have to live vicariously. Promise you'll share when these beauties bloom. I love the copper molds.
Hello Karen,
DeleteHow I'd love to force paperwhites at home. I adore them. However, they give my husband a headache from "the stench" they emit so have been banned (people fall into one of two camps with paperwhites - love 'em or hate 'em!). Perhaps that is why I seek out hyacinths each winter as their sweet smell do not cause any headaches or complaining!
And, yes, I'll promise to share the blooms with my loyal readers when they eventually flower (fingers crossed for me please!).
Hello,
ReplyDeleteIn our gardening days we are reluctant to report that on many an occasion we completely forgot about bulbs, purchased in excited fashion in Autumn and completely overlooked by Spring. However, in every case, even though they were almost creeping out of their brown paper packages in order to plant themselves, they never failed to flourish in the garden or in pots. Bulbs are really the most magical of Nature's gifts.
So, we are sure that yours will thrive and scent your house beautifully. And, how glamorous they look in their copper pots. Such an inventive idea!
Hello Jane and Lance,
DeleteIt comforts me greatly to learn that you too have fallen victim to the over-excitement of bulb buying in years past, only to have forgotten to plant some of them in a timely manner. It is also good to read that you are confident these stragglers will eventually flourish and provide magical blooms to brighten my day. I await with baited breath.
Chronica, seriously, you are brilliant! Do you know how many of those copper molds I have that never get used!! Thank you dearest, you are a genius.
ReplyDeleteLast year I forced so many bulbs the house smelled like a cheap whorehouse..this year, as you know is another story. I did get MM a pot with hyacinths already in buds. Didn't last too long and it wasn't as thrilling. I do have lots of bulbs in the garden and with this cold they should be splendid. can't wait to see yours when they bloom.
My dear Lindaraxa, you are simply too kind and generous in your praise of my brilliance. I simply opened my groaning cupboard and the molds met my gaze, and the rest is history. Seriously, I am thrilled that I've inspired you to put your copper molds to a use other than food. Please fill them all up with your favorite bulbs next winter and take a photograph to share it on your wonderful blog. I keenly anticipate the end result.
DeleteA very good idea. And I have my fingers crossed for your hyacinths-in your capable hands they have more than a good chance. I have never forced bulbs but I do love the beautiful blooms of spring.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bebe. I think you should give bulb forcing a try next winter especially as you are so fond of spring blooms. It is really rather easy and you'll reap the benefits within three or four weeks, much faster than planting them outdoors.
DeleteAdding this very nice comment that I received in email from Rachel:
ReplyDeleteYours, like mine this year, resemble a clutch of hatching baby dinosaur eggs we received as a gift for Easter years ago. They sit snubby and peeking out at the world, then growing upward into less-dainty versions than in years past. The flowers themselves are lush fat blooms on shorter stems, and the fragrance is even more powerful than before.
We missed two, somehow, as we brought the new ones into the house, and found them yesterday, upended beside a wooden bed-border, growing upside-down UP as fast as their stubby stems would go. I don't know if these are some hardier version, or if the cruel cold and long-snows of late have frightened them into Live-While-You-Can, but they're the most BURSTING flowers beside a Floribunda Rose.
I love coming to visit at your house. Walking in to all the delightful treasures and words is like riches.
rachel