Another familiar group of spring harbingers, daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are easy to force. In fact, a few cultivars don't need any cold treatment at all. These daffodils are the special members of the tazetta division known as paperwhites (see Daffodil Decisions, issue 11). Small and rather delicate in their form and appearance, they lend themselves readily to being grown on pebbles in a saucer of water. Now, the other daffodils do require a cold treatment of a minimum of 12 weeks and, ideally, 16 weeks. This includes all the other ones you are more accustomed to seeing in the garden in spring. All of them can be "tricked" to bloom indoors whenever you want them to bloom. What this means is your range of size and color is as limitless as the huge family of daffodils. And don't forget fragrance. 'Early Splendor' is an especially fragrant paperwhite that doesn't need forcing. 'Sweetness,' 'Trevithian' and 'Stratosphere' are three daffodils that are sweetly perfumed. Hyacinth | Dwarf Iris | Spring Crocus | Tulip | Forcing Bulbs Provided By Garden Gate Magazine |