Fragrant Holiday Paperwhites

Usually, paperwhites are not planted into soil; they are just nestled into a container of pebbles and water. Often, these containers are short and decorative, making it nearly impossible to get stakes to hold up the floppy flower stalks. It seemed the best way to solve this puzzle was to develop a shorter paperwhite.

As it turns out, any paperwhite bulb forced in water can be enticed to shorten up its flower stalks by one third to one-half their height. Just give them a little holiday nip of cheer. If you are a teetotaler, your bulbs will even sip rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl alcohol). The mixer will just be a little different if you use rubbing alcohol.

"Plant" your bulbs in decorative stone as you normally would do. Add water to the container up to the base of the bulbs. According to the Flowerbulb Research Program at Cornell, "Wait about one week until roots are growing, and the shoot is green and growing, about one to two inches above the top of the bulb. At this point, pour off the water and replace it with a solution of 4 to 6% alcohol, made from just about any "hard" liquor. Then, simply use this solution, instead of water, for further (watering) of your bulbs."

THE FORMULAS: To get a 5% hard liquor alcohol solution from a 40% distilled product (gin, vodka, whiskey, or rum), dilute one part liquor with seven parts water. This is an 8-fold dilution yielding 5% alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol is usually 70% alcohol when purchased. Dilute it 1 part rubbing alcohol to 10 or 11 parts water.

Do not use a stronger solution than suggested. Moderation in alcohol use is best for people and plants. Properly used, the result is paperwhites that are 1/3 to ½ shorter, with equal sized flowers that last as long as normal.

From William B. Miller, Professor of Horticulture, Director of the Flowerbulb Research Program at Cornell University. http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/wmiller/bulb/Pickling_your_Paperwhites.pdf