Most of us who live in cold winter climates get sick of winter just about the time that sleet, ice, snow and gray days really get going. That depressing period generally starts after the first of the year, when the holiday excitement is long gone, along with the decorations. Living spaces are bare, New Year’s diets have begun and souls and landscapes are enveloped in cold, dark clouds. Gardeners await the return of the light while huddling in warm corners and gazing at websites or clutching spring plant catalogs.
Art Wolk aims to change that scenario by persuading even timid gardeners that they can lift their winter-depleted spirits by filling their homes with bountiful pots of tulips, daffodils and other spring-flowering plants. His book, Bulb Forcing, is a lavishly illustrated manual that de-mystifies the process of inducing bulbs to flower in advance of the outdoor growing season. If you are thinking about ordering bulbs to plant in the garden, read Bulb Forcing first. You will want to buy extra ones to pot up for the dark days.
Wolk is a master of the art of bulb forcing. He has been at it for more than three decades and has won scores of accolades, including two Grand Sweepstakes Awards at the Philadelphia Flower Show. One of the beauties of the book is that he reveals many of the tricks of the flower exhibitors’ trade and makes those tricks accessible to average home gardeners.
Wolk’s humor is disarming and allows him to pack a lot of science into his text. Bulbs succeed best, he says, when they are treated to conditions that mimic those of their places of origin. I was especially impressed by his emphasis on the need to recreate those natural conditions by ensuring that the bulb-growing medium contains lots of air. Most garden writers refer to this as “good drainage” without explaining what the phrase means. Water moves easily through a planting medium because a wealth of minute air pockets allows it to do so. Wet, compacted soil or potting medium denies air to bulbs’ roots, dooming the bulbs to a slow death from rot.
The rules of good bulb forcing come down to the following: buy the best bulbs, plant them in clay pots containing a well-aerated medium, chill them sufficiently and provide ample exposure to bright light and cool indoor temperature to stimulate flower production. I love the author’s solutions for providing the necessary cold storage or vernalization, which include storing potted-up bulbs in cardboard boxes filled with mulch or compost and constructing a cheap, movable cold frame out of plastic window well covers.
My single criticism of the book is that Wolk underemphasizes the difficulty of completing the critical last step in the forcing process. Finding a bright space with temperatures of sixty to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit can be difficult if you lack a cool greenhouse or unheated, enclosed porch. Most of us live with other people, many of whom prefer rooms heated to a temperature somewhat above sixty-five degrees. Finding the right combination of light and slightly chilly temperatures can be a problem. That said, Wolk’s enthusiasm is sufficiently inspiring make readers want to overcome the challenge.
Bulb Forcing includes extensive discussions of how to get the best results with a wide variety of species—from tulips and daffodils to little bulbs like grape hyacinths and miniature iris. Towards the end of the text he tackles something that I thought was impossible, or at least highly likely to turn out ugly—the mixed forced bulb arrangement.
The subtitle of the book is “for beginners and the seriously smitten.” Providing how-to’s that will entice novices while simultaneously attempting to inspire more experienced bulb forcers with professional tips is a tall order. Not everyone will be interested in every chapter, but the author’s stunning photographs make it hard to skip even a few pages.
The best how-to books—whether they are about cooking, boat-building or gardening—make you want to rush out and try whatever it is the author addresses. Wolk’s book does that, encouraging readers to take risks, observe results and try new species and cultivars. Timidity, to the author, is a far worse fate than failure. I would never want to compete against Art Wolk at a flower show, but I would love to work alongside him at the potting bench. Reading through Bulb Forcing, I feel as if I already have.
Bulb Forcing can be obtained from major book vendors, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.