Make Pots of Narcissus Bloom Year After Year

Question from Rosanne:

I need help. I have several large pots of narcissus that have lots of green growth, but no blooms. What am I doing wrong? What should I do so they will bloom next year? I wanted to create a little “Margaret Fowler” courtyard, bringing the pots in when in bloom like Scripps did in the Spring, but daffodils.

Answer from Pat:

Paperwhites and Chinese sacred lilies (Tazetta hybrid narcissus)—are perfectly adapted to growing in the ground here in Southern California. In fall, as soon as you see them available for sale in your local nursery, plant them in the ground in fall. You will have bloom the following winter or spring and eventually you will have great drifts of them that will bloom each year in fall, winter or spring depending on your climate zone. In order to enjoy the best bloom, always feed the bulbs after bloom. Otherwise you may get a lot of strappy leaves and no flowers. I recommend throwing a handful of slow-release fertilizer (14-14-14) on top of each clump after blooms have faded and then water this fertilizer into the ground. Tie up the foliage in knots and don’t remove it until it goes yellow. Once it is brown, you can safely cut off the faded foliage down to the ground.

However, the reason your pots grew many leaves and no flowers is that no kind of daffodil (Narcissus), including paperwhites and Chinese sacred lilies, or other Tazetta hybrids, will do well when left year-after-year in pots. If you grew them in very large pots and fed the bulbs after bloom you might possibly get them to bloom again the following year, but I doubt it. They need to be in the ground. However, it is quite easy to replant the pots annually in fall. Empty out some of the worn-out potting soil, replace with a fresh layer, put handfuls of bonemeal under your new bulbs, keep them watered, cover them for a week or two with inverted cardboard boxes until the tops are an inch or two tall (so they will grow roots before leaves), put them into a sunny place and you will have them in bloom at the normal time of year for wherever you live. If you plant them in September and if you live close to the coast, they will most likely bloom in fall or winter. If you live inland they won’t bloom until spring. If you live near the coast and wait to plant them closer to Christmas, they may not bloom until late winter or spring but also they might rot while you’re waiting. Don’t throw out the bulbs after bloom. Instead, lift them out of the pots in clumps, dig holes in the ground and plant the clumps. After planting, be sure to fertilize each clump with slow-release fertilizer as described above and follow up with plenty of water. They should bloom again the following year, and thereafter bloom annually at the correct time for your climate zone (spring inland, fall or winter along the coast.) But don’t forget the annual fertilizing after bloom.

Paperwhites and Chinese sacred lilies can also be “forced” in gravel and water. Narcissus do not need winter chill, so you don’t need to put them into the refrigerator or bury the pots in a trench in the garden. This is how gardeners in cold-winter climates “force” bulbs to bloom in the house in winter, but it is unnecessary in warm-winter climates. (In warm-winter climates such as coastal zones of Southern California, hyacinths, tulips, and crocus need to be put into the refrigerator for 6 weeks prior to planting but daffodils do not need this treatment.)

In order to “force” Chinese sacred lilies and paperwhites to bloom indoors in winter in Southern California, plant the fresh bulbs six weeks prior to the time when you wish the bulbs to bloom, place the bulbs into a waterproof container, cover them well with gravel or pebbles to anchor their roots and fill the gravel with water. Cover the containers with inverted cardboard boxes to darken them and keep them in a cool place for the first week or two until the leaves begin to grow. After the leaves are one to two inches tall and roots have begun to grow (roughly 2 weeks) place the bulbs in a sunny window. At this point, some people poor off the water and then refill the gravel with a solution of water diluted with alcohol, usually cheap vodka—read the percentage of alcohol on the bottle and dilute with water to arrive at 4% to 6% alcohol. (Roughly one part vodka to 7 parts water.) This process will ensure that the leaves and flowers won’t grow too tall and top heavy and fall over, a common problem with forced narcissi.