Paperwhites

Christmas just isn't Christmas without paperwhites blooming around the house. There is something about the way they smell. I close my eyes (I am a little dramatic, I know) and am instantly transported back to our apartment in Boston; being snowed in & and the cold, hard floors. We had these great old floors. They were huge planks of wood, maybe 8-10" wide. Anyway, I would be lying if I said I wasn't secretly wishing that I was snowed in back in that old apartment this week. I'm really missing Boston. I had a lot of paperwhites this year and not quite enough containers for all of them so the remaining 8 were placed in baby jars (which I always keep around and usually have tea lights burning in.) I put a few large pebbles, maybe 2 or 3, in each jar. I think the pebbles were purchased from a craft store years ago but I use them every year with the paperwhites. The bulbs were placed right on top, making sure there was just enough room for me to water them with. They are all lined up on my kitchen window sill. The only bummer about these flowers is that they get a bit unruly when they get so long. I read somewhere years ago that you can stunt their growth by adding alcohol or something but I always forget to do it and then (I'm feeling like I've blogged about this before…I probably have!!) they grow too long and get out of control.Late at night we can hear the flowers 'popping' as they emerge from their little pod's. I also read somewhere about cutting off all the greens once they've bloomed and placing the bulbs in a shoebox and tucking them away for a year or so & then replanting…sound familiar? I'll have to look into it. Until then, I'll just stand next to them and deeply breathe them in.