Forcing Paperwhites/ Narcissus Bulbs

Paperwhites or narcissus are named after the mythological character Narcissus. There a few different versions of the myth of Narcissus (some including the nymph Echo & a curse) but most end with the haughty handsome boy falling in love with his own reflection in a pond and staying there loving himself until the day he dies. (hence the term "narcissist.")

A narcissus flower is said to have bloomed in the spot after his death.

Every Winter I think about forcing paperwhite bulbs. I just love the idea of having fresh flowers all winter & of course the small is insanely good. (I tried it one year but they don't do very well when you don't water them.) But THIS year, I'm doing it. I want that smell and I want those beautiful little white fowers all over my house. A neighbor of mine forces amaryllis & other bulbs as Christmas gifts & I think it's just a perfect idea. She times them so they're in bloom when she gives them.

I'm going to give them to all of the people in my life who love themselves too much as a hint for them to change their narcissistic attitudes- it's about time! (hahahah no, totally kidding... I'll give them to the people I love too much ;)

If you're anything like me & often a little short on time (and you're giving it to someone who you think might enjoy a mini-project & the waiting & watching for blooming bulbs) then you could also make them a pretty bulb-forcing kit with all of the ingredients needed: beautiful container, stones/gravel/etc., a bulb, and directions. How perfect are these paperwhites in julep cups (real simple mag) below?!

I'm loving them on this Christmas mantle (below, Martha Stewart):

And look at this huge trough on a kitchen island from here :

And pretty much anything in an urn is gorgeous to me (image below from tickingandtoile.com):

I'm loving the wild-vintage look in the photo below (from the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information center). Clear glass vases are easy to come by (in fact, pilsner glasses from a place like Ikea would be really beautiful & affordable) and I love seeing the root systems. A very raw/ natural look:

There are so many different options for planting. One of my favorites (and I cannot find the photo I'm looking for- arg!!) is to use vintage tea cups. Oney teacups are so inexpensive at flea markets & thrift stores and would make a beautiful gift. Check out this gorgeous metal (can't tell if it's copper or something else from the pic, gardensnob.com) pot below:

And they look perfectly simple in even just a plain white pot (uniquegardens.net):

Here's a quick How-To for forcing paperwhites:

( I got the information from an article on about.com with photos by Kerry Michaels)

1. Pick your container: If it's tall, you won't need to stake the paperwhites when they eventually bloom, but if it isn't, be prepared to have stakes, chopsticks, etc.

2. Add 2-4 inches of stones, pebbles, gravel, anything non-porous to your container. (This keeps the bulbs in place & out of the water.. you just want the roots in the water.)

3. Add the bulbs. If you're doing multiple bulbs , make sure they're all at the same level & nestled into place so you can keep the roots (not bulbs under water- bulbs will rot)

4. Water & Alcohol:

***UPDATE*** I've gotten lots of great emails & comments from readers who've grown narcissus themselves and they mention adding alcohol to the water to keep the plants from becoming too leggy. They say to just use water until the first sign of a green shoot arrives and then use approx 1 part alcohol to 10 parts water or 4-6% from that point on. (There are lots of different ratios floating around out there for how much alcohol to use & the article I read said no more than 10%.)

4. They do best in a cool spot out of direct sunlight for a couple of weeks. After they root, put them in a bright warm spot to speed up flowering. (The author of the article says she just keeps them on her kitchen countr the whole time.) Once they bloom (4-6 weeks after planting) you might need to stake them with something to keep them from falling over.

The year I tried forcing paperwhites, I used a faux conch shell. I saw this article from Cottage Living (below) and just had to make one! The problem (for me) was that because it was a faux conch shell, there wasn't much room for water and so it needed daily waterings and sadly, the love just wasn't there. The bulb never actually died but it had the tiniest nub of a shoot for 3-4 months and then it was Springtime and I gave up. But I think it would work beautifully in a real conch shell like the article recommended.

Here are a few inexpensive sources I found & thought I'd share with you:

For a vase similar to the one in the image above, try here (2 for $8.98)

Buy (already started/ forced?- It was hard to tell) bulbs here: $16.95 for $25

And here there's a deal with 30 for $19.95 and 15 for $10.95

I'd also heard that Walmart has them but don't have one near me...

SO, I'm going to give it a go this year & of course I'll take pics & show you how it goes when they bloom. I'm very impatient with these sorts of things but I'm going to try my best to water the bulbs this time!! (Image below from Country Living) I want these flowers!!!

xoxo,

lauren

image #1- whiteflowerfarm.com, image 3- greayer.com

Accessorizing with Ferns

I love fern. Whenever I see a photo of a room with it in it, I take a second look. It just gives this awesome fresh jolt of green & energy to a space. It has a classic feel yet it's a bit wild & untamed & perfect for any modern space. (And they're so inexpensive & available!!!)

When I saw this room by Carlton Varney (in HB), it was the fern that got me. How beautiful is it against all that white?!!


I've always wanted a house with a front porch & hanging ferns on it. Something about it is so romantic & nostalgic. (2 images below from Martha Stewart)

How perfect is this porch?!! (below)

Eddie & Jaithan had a fern in their apartment:


And Eddie used one as the centerpiece for his New Orleans Showhouse dining room:



Below is a fern I used at my old townhouse a couple of years ago... (I killed it pretty quickly though--- eeeeek!!) I loved sitting in here with my fan going (this was the old big square plastic one that broke) and the windows open, blowing in the white curtains... Something about the fern and all these elements really relaxed me. Great place to read a book or take a nap...

Love how the fern below (BHG) is just sitting casually on the stairs. (It's much better than my pile of stuff that needs to go either up or down!!!)

Below is a pretty little fern in a bucket in the kitchen of the Ruthie Sommers house we all love so much: (Also, Things That Inspire let me know that the adorable crab painting is actually by a very talented artist friend of hers!!!!)

Here's a simple fern arrangement accompanied by fern plates (Country Living):

LOVE LOVE LOVE the table setting below from one of my favorite houses, Rice Cottage.

The plant below isn't a fern but I included it because it's so fern-esque ;) (BHG):

The fern in the corner gives just the hit of life this room needs (below, BHG):

Here's another pretty little fern from BHG in a shabby chic dining room:

And finally, this fern in a room done by Carrier and Company is one of my favorites. I LOVE what it does in this room (again, a white background) and it looks so perfect next to the turquoise gourd lamp. So much life!!! love it!!!

I've been waiting to get my ferns this year because we're going away for another 2 weeks and I don't want them to die while I'm gone!! (I've pledged to take better care of the next ones ;) I'm putting one in my dining room in an urn I just found. Home Depot and K-Mart have a ton for under $15. Also, if you plant them in the grount just before it gets too cold, they'll come up next Spring!! (I did this when I started to kill my indoor ferns and the ones that made it were beautiful in the Spring!!)

We'll be in the Outer Banks (North Carolina) and I'll be posting from there for the next 2 weeks!!! The house we rented is so pretty and I can't wait to show pics!!! (hahaha totally picked it because of how it was decorated ;)

xoxo,

lauren

Inexpensive Artwork for Childrens' Rooms

Some of the most beautiful art can be found in children's books. And what an inexpensive way to decorate?

Remember the curtains I bought at Ikea this weekend for my little guy's bedroom?? (below) Well, the first thing I thought of when I saw them was My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (above)-- one of my favorite books as a kid. How fun would it be to use the book for art?

And also, how about The Saggy Baggy Elephant by K.B. Jackson with illustrations by Tenggren? (below)I think it would work perfectly.

The colors are vibrant and the story takes place in the jungle, which is exactly what the curtains remind me of.

Christian loves the book and loves naming all the different animals & making animal sounds. I think it would be so fun for them to be blown up & framed as a set of prints on the walls.

The crocodile (below) is one of my favorites. It's the illustration that made me want to start framing this book because it's just so vibrant & pretty.

How cute is Sookie the elephant's belly below??!!

Ok, I know I've shown an insane amount of this book by now, but just one more. (I can't help myself they're too cute!!! :) At this part Christian always points to the elephant in the center and says "baby" and then points to 2 big elephants and says "mommy - daddy."

And another of my favorite books is Murice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. The fabric below comes in a green & aqua colorway and when I saw it I immediately thought of Where the Wild Things Are. (I wish I had an image of the fabric in the right color but hopefully you see the connection anyway.)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. The images are beautiful and the story's great.

When I was little, the library we went to had a big Max doll (wolf suit and everything) that came with the book when you checked it out. He was probably as big as me and it was awesome. Christian has an old furry snow suit that looks like Max's wolf suit and he sometimes puts it on and runs around growling.

The illustrations are softer & I think they almost deserve a room of their own. My original idea was to have Christian's new room be "where the wild things are" with letters spelling "WILD THING" above the bed, but then I found the really cheap Ikea curtains. Maybe Baby 2 will get to be the WILD THING??? (The Napping House is also a contender.)

We'll see... That fabric is much more expensive so... Anyway, there are so many beautiful children's books out there!! It's a really inexpensive way to decorate and kids will love it. (and you will too!!) Can't wait to show you finished pictures. Christian is getting his "big boy bed" soon so it'll be shortly!!! What are some of your favorite illustrated children's books?? Do you have any book artwork on your walls?

xoxo,

lauren

My Favorite Weeds

It's that time of year (depending upon where you live, this post could be a little early!) when my favorite weeds, Queen Anne's lace and Wild Chicory, are popping up alongside of roads, in fields & generally anywhere there's untended dirt.


One of my favorite flowers (if not favorite ) is Queen Anne's Lace. It was named after Queen Anne, who was adept at lacemaking. Many of the flowers have reddish/ purple blooms in the center and it's said that it's a drop of Queen Anne's blood from pricking her finger while making lace.

Queen Anne's lace is really special to me & reminds me of summertime, visiting my dad in Illinois, where the sides of the roads are covered in Queen Anne's lace & wild chicory. The field across from our family's longtime summer cottage/ lakehouse is filled with them & I used to pick them when I was little with my grandma & cousins. My dad actually moved into the cottage about 10-12 years ago & so we still go there every summer. (This is the house I'm always working on, kitchen here.) Here's the table set last summer with some fresh Queen Anne's Lace & some of my Grandma Maestranzi's china:

It doesn't last long when you bring it inside, but it's worth it to me. And, my other favorite "weed" is wild chicory (below).

I can't get over its color & again, it just gives me this nostalgic feeling whenever I see it. An herbal tea of it, taken a couple of times a day, is said to help your metabolism according to old herbal lore. I used to love picking the flowers & drying them out for the tea, but to be honest, I wasn't really into the tea & enjoyed making it & the pretty packaging for it more than I did drinking it. I think I still have a a 15-year old homemade box of it somewhere. hahah

(image from here)
Anyway, if you haven't glanced at the roadsides lately, take a look. There are so many beautiful "weeds." The best part is, we're going to Illinois in August for a couple of weeks and just as the flowers start to fade here in Virginia, they'll be in full bloom there. Can't wait!!

And don't forget how much of life this quote can be applied to:

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

xoxo,

lauren