Very good tutorial from a professional garden...
I have subscribed to access all the courses so have watched one on interior design and this one with Butter Wakefield who specialises in small garden design. She ...
Louise Brown
Apr 10, 2026
Forcing bulbs
with THE LAND GARDENERS — Award-winning garden designers and cut flower growers on a mission to save our soil.
Lesson 35 of 37
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Forcing bulbs enables us to have some colour indoors in winter. Bridget and Henrietta advise us to plant the bulbs in pots in October/November and keep them for a few weeks in a cold and dark place before bringing them out for display inside the home.
From the Lesson Workbook
Forcing Bulbs
Forcing bulbs enables us to have some colour indoors in winter. The best way to do this is to plant the bulbs in pots in October/November and keep them in a cold, dark place for a few weeks before bringing them indoors. We find that the most suitable bulbs for forcing are hyacinths (Hyacinthus), grape hyacinths (Muscari), miniature blue irises (Iris reticulata 'Harmony) and crocuses. We plant them in succession so we can have flowers indoors through the winter.
Top Tips
- Make sure that the hyacinth bulbs you buy for forcing indoors have been pre-chilled.
- You can grow single hyacinth bulbs in water in specially shaped small glass vases.
Plant Directory
Crocus
common name: crocus
Hyacinthus
common name: hyacinth
Iris reticulata
common name: iris
Ornithogalum
common name: star-of-Bethlehem
Narcissus papyraceus
common name: paperwhite
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Your Instructor
The Land Gardeners
Award-winning garden designers and cut flower growers on a mission to save our soil.
Garden designers, flower growers and compost creators, Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy joined forces to found The Land Gardeners in 2012. United by their passion for organically grown plants and a shared interest in soil health, they began by growing and selling cut flowers to esteemed florists, and worked on restoring historic gardens to their former glory. Most recently, they launched Climate Compost - a project born from years of inquisitive research into soil biology with the aim of creating a microbially rich compost that produces nutrient dense crops, while also supporting and boosting the local ecosystem. With an unwavering commitment to improving the health of our land and its biodiversity, The Land Gardeners’ approach is one of sensitivity, unparalleled expertise and, above all, a loving respect for the natural world and its preservation.
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