Planting Paperwhites

I found my new favorite way to plant flowers with my kids. No dirt needed! This was the cleanest project we’ve done in a while. We planted Paperwhite bulbs and have really enjoyed watching them grow bit by bit and blossom in the middle of winter. 

• I got the bulbs at our local gardening store. I planted a couple at the beginning of January and the kids just helped me plant two more jars to start growing in the next couple of weeks. Seriously, the best way to plant with kids…
• We used one glass container and one bag of rocks ($1.00 each at the dollar store)
• Fill the container 2/3 full with rocks (or sand…)

• Place a bulb on the rocks pointed end up.

• Fill with the rest of the rocks leaving the top half of each bulb exposed.

• Fill the container with water, as close as possible to the bottom of the bulb without the water touching the bottom of the bulb. If the water is too high the bulb may rot, if it is too low the roots may dry out.
• We used a squirty bottle to “water” the rocks See that?! No dirt. No mess!
• Place the container in a cool, dark spot and roots will appear within two weeks. We put ours in a darker corner in the garage.

• When green shoots appear, move the container to a cool, sunny spot. Ours have been sitting on the kitchen table with light from the windows. They grow bit by bit and blooms appear 3 to 4 weeks after the shoots appear.

We’ll let these bloom as long as they want, then swap them out for the new bulbs the kids just planted. I’m loving having pretty flowers this time of the year and the kids have really enjoyed watching them grow and change each day!

• Read “Paperwhite” by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace … I just happened to see this book at our library the last time we visited. How perfect! They plant paperwhite bulbs just like we did.