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dreamywhites.blogspot.com

3. Coax paperwhites to bloom indoors. One of the easiest ways to make your home instantly feel like spring is to force bulbs ? get them to bloom early ? indoors. Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus) are a great choice for early forcing since, unlike many other bulbs, such as tulips and crocus, they do not require hours of chilling to bloom.

Susan Duane

To get started, select a ceramic bowl, glass jar or other vessel that doesn?t have a hole at the bottom. Fill the bottom 3 to 4 inches of the container with pebbles and nestle a few paperwhite bulbs in place, with the tips facing up. Add more stones to secure the bulbs. Fill the container with water up to and touching the bottom of the bulbs. Move the container to a room with ample indirect light, and keep the water topped up. Roots, shoots and buds will soon begin to form. Paperwhites generally bloom six weeks after they are exposed to warmth and moisture.

Daniel Nolan for Flora Grubb Gardens

4. Mount a staghorn fern. The botanical equivalent of a pair of antlers mounted on the wall, staghorn ferns make beautiful wall accents. To re-create the look, fasten a staghorn fern to an untreated woodblock using fishing line and sphagnum moss.
Staghorn ferns (Platycerium spp.) are epiphytes and In nature grow on tree trunks and branches in tropical and temperate rainforests. The ferns will grow best indoors in a place where they?ll receive bright light and where the mounting can be easily taken down for weekly watering.

i3 design group

Hang mounted ferns in unexpected places ? such as above a bed for a jungle-like backdrop or in the bathroom, where they will appreciate moist air from the shower.