Elegant and pure, the narcissus is subtle but eye-catching 

Narcissus tazetta subsp. tazetta (crab-claw narcissus) forced in January 

The power of a forced bulb indoors! Although we, living in the 21st century, might assume our lives are tough while we’re trying to make it through the bleakest days of the year, I would argue that those who had to live by oil lamp and candlelight had it rough, too. But imagine coming home and finding that the flower bud that you’ve been eyeing all week has finally popped open. Now that’s some timeless joy, no matter what century you were born into. (And for the record, spending time outdoors, even if gray and rainy, is what the doctor recommends to combat seasonal affective disorder. Perhaps a visit to a certain Ming replica garden is in order!)  

Paperwhites

The elegant narcissus is known as 水仙 shuǐxiān, AKA “water immortal” in Chinese. The word 仙 xiān denotes the immortal is a Daoist deity. The inclusion of water is because the narcissus can go from bulb to bloom with nothing but water and sunlight.

Narcissus tazetta are commonly called paperwhites, but the term paperwhite can also refer to other species in the narcissus genus. You may be familiar with ‘Ziva’ which is by far the most popular paperwhite variety worldwide. ‘Ziva’ has pure white petals and corollas (the “cup”) and a fragrance that packs a punch.  

Traveling Bulbs

The practice of forcing bulbs to bloom around the Lunar New Year has most likely been a part of Chinese tradition for close to a millennia as the bulbs first entered China during the Song Dynasty when Arab traders built an established trade route with now-Fujian Province (Garden Plants of China, 1999). It turns out that bulbs are a great candidate for traveling across continents with since they have all the potential of a future plant enclosed inside one nice neat package.  

The descendants of the original Narcissus tazetta have naturalized along coastal habitats in Fujian & Zhejiang Provinces as well as in Japan and Taiwan and are now classified as a subspecies of the original Tazetta which left western Asia.  This subspecies is what is referred to as 蟹爪水仙 – literally “crab-claw narcissus” or Chinese sacred lily. In particular, this subspecies readily forms bulblets making the bulb look like it’s growing crab claws. These bulblets can be carved before “forcing” to distort the growth of the leaves in a visually appealing way. 

Lunar New Year traditions

In accordance with this horticultural tradition, the horticulture team has been carving and forcing narcissus for display in the garden during Lunar New Year for the past four years. Carving the bulb takes immense patience and a steady hand with each bulb requiring about three hours of dedication. Past that, the bulbs must be monitored on a daily basis to make sure they have just enough moisture and sunlight to successfully bloom in time for the festivities of the New Year. It typically takes about 6 weeks from mud-caked bulb to complete bloom. 

Carving process, photo credit Sohu.com 

This year, the New Year falls quite late, putting it into mid-February, but since the narcissus typically makes its appearance in January, it is our representative flower goddess for the month. We will have a select amount of potted crab-claws available for sale at our Garden Shop. These have been cultivated in soil for outdoor growing and blooming and will bloom naturally in early spring alongside many other small-flowering Narcissus types like Tête à Tête.  

In addition, I am hoping to be able to import some bulbs from China so that you, like us, can try your hand at forcing some winter cheer inside your home. If you decide to go the route of not carving your bulb, it is as simple as setting up a dish with some pebbles, placing the bulb root-side down and putting it in a sunny location. If you want to pursue the route of carving, stay tuned for the release of our carving workshop in January and make sure to sign up fast because seats are limited.  

Hope you have a cheery start to your year! See you in the garden! 花園見~