Monty Don has shared a November gardening task that can deliver flowers on your windowsill by Christmas morning: planting paperwhites. In a blog post, the gardening expert and broadcaster outlined a series of jobs worth tackling in the garden this month, including planting new additions and tending to particular flowers already being cultivated.
Why Paperwhites Bloom Quickly
According to Monty, the white daffodils, officially known as Narcissus papyraceus, are remarkably quick to bloom, unlike most daffodils, which need a period of cold weather to prompt flowering. He explains that paperwhites originate from the Mediterranean, a characteristic that enables them to bypass this challenging phase.
To get them going, Monty says to follow some straightforward steps. First, "plant the bulbs just beneath the surface of your compost in a container (ideally with drainage, but a normal bowl can be used if you add some charcoal to keep the soil sweet)."
Growing and Timing Tips
Once that's complete, "keep them watered but not soggy and place in a warm, light place," he says. This will enable the bulbs to develop robustly. If you opt to plant indoors in warmth, anticipate your paperwhites flowering in approximately 4 weeks. If that's too early for your preferences, you can delay flowering by maintaining them in cool but frost-free conditions.
In the same blog post, Monty offered guidance on planting and tending to other plants, particularly for November. He described the month as the ideal period for one of his most cherished tasks in the entire gardening calendar.
Tulips and Dahlias Advice
According to him, planting tulips is "the most important and best job of the month," though if you're unable to tackle it now, any time before Christmas will do perfectly well. As they develop, these popular yet delicate flowers require good drainage, so incorporating grit or sand into heavy soil is an effective way to keep them thriving and in excellent condition.
To plant them, he suggests using a crowbar to create holes 12 inches deep or deeper, because "the deeper they are, the stronger and straighter the stem will be." When growing them in containers, the task becomes somewhat simpler, as drainage is more straightforward to control, and bulbs needn't be planted quite as deeply.
Lastly, another piece of flowering advice for November concerns lifting dahlias, as frost will rapidly turn their foliage into blackened mush, though there's no cause for alarm, since the tubers themselves remain undamaged provided the ground hasn't frozen solid.
