The holiday season is nearly upon us and I'm already searching for inspiration to decorate my home. I particularly love bringing the outdoors in during the festive months, making eye-catching floral displays with forced bulbs. The only issue I'm struggling with? A lack of natural light indoors during this time of year.
When you force bulbs indoors, choosing a bright spot is often key to prolonging the display, but for the likes of a tablescape away from windows, or just a darker room in the midst of winter, it can be challenging to provide such light. Luckily, there are a handful of indoor bulbs that will tolerate a shaded position. Though, it should be noted they will need to be placed somewhere bright initially to bloom (like on a sunny windowsill), and can then be relocated to a spot with more restricted light to be enjoyed.
3 indoor bulbs for low light spots
All of the bulbs below can be forced in soil or you can force these bulbs in water. And don't forget, low light doesn't mean no light. These bulbs will perform best in a bright position, but they will tolerate a shadier spot indoors that still gets partial light.
1. Grape hyacinth
Grape hyacinth (muscari) is not only an indoor bulb for lower light, it's also one of the best indoor bulbs to grow in water, as well as soil.
These are some of the best miniature bulbs and when planted en masse in a potted mound arrangement, they make for an impressive centerpiece.
While ideal conditions for muscari are somewhere sunny, they will adapt to lower light. It makes them perfect for table arrangements, but also filling bare spots on shelves this festive season.
It's a great low light alternative to hyacinth bulbs, which prefer a brighter spot.
Something to note: grape hyacinths need around eight weeks of chilling before forcing indoors, so it does require some preparation in advance of the winter months.
You can find muscari bulbs for forcing on Amazon.
2. Leucojum
While often mistaken for snowdrops, leucojum (summer snowflake) is actually a later blooming bulb, typically flowering from April to May. Indoors, it can be forced for Christmas in soil by planting in fall.
Just like muscari, it's best to chill leucojum bulbs for around 10 weeks before forcing.
These charming white blooms are ideal as indoor bulbs for low light because they tolerate conditions from full sun to partial shade.
As compact bulbs, they make for dainty additions to festive floral arrangements.
You can find summer snowflake bulbs on Amazon.
3. 'Tête à Tête' daffodil
For a pop of yellow, consider adding some narcissi bulbs to your indoor bulb display for Christmas. Of course, many types of daffodil require a sunny position, but the compact 'Tête à Tête' is a more shade-tolerant variety.
Though it should be noted, 'Tête à Tête' is only tolerant to light shade, meaning it isn't the best for a super shady spot in the home, but rather a position slightly away from a windowsill.
To successfully force these bulbs, provide a 10 week chilling period and force them in potting mix. They should be kept consistently moist, but not soggy.
'Tête à Tête' bulbs are available to order from Amazon.
FAQs
Will indoor bulbs bloom in low light?
No, it is very unlikely indoor bulbs will bloom in low light, though they do first need a chilling period in darkness. After this, you should place your bulbs on a sunny windowsill or under a grow light (from Amazon) to encourage blooming.
You can then move them to the lower light spot in which you wish to display them, making sure it isn't somewhere with no light at all. Make sure to also choose indoor bulbs that tolerate shade over those that require a full-sun spot.
When forcing these bulbs in water, make sure to read up on hydroponic gardening mistakes, as many of them apply. You can also use the below tools to help you successfully force these bulbs indoors:
These forcing vases are ideal for a number of indoor bulbs. They're transparent so you can observe root growth.
Use this indoor potting mix to force bulbs in soil. This mix is well-draining, ideal for forcing bulbs indoors.
This amaryllis bulb forcing kit comes with everything to grow a white amaryllis indoors for a festive display.
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