Sister companies, Havahart and SaferBrands, asked me to help them build their blog presence in the gardening niche. We put together weekly SEO-friendly articles for each brand and built both blogs into independent sites with great traffic and conversions.

See one Havahart sample here and a SaferBrands blog here. Article copy is also shown below:

 

Safer Brands Blog: Forcing Bulbs

Forcing Bulbs for Early Spring Flowers.

When you’re a northern gardener, February can get pretty dreary. That’s why I love forcing bulbs for extra early spring blossoms. It’s a fun and inexpensive way to experiment with color and variety and a great project for the kids. It also makes a fantastic and unique Mother’s Day gift for Grandma.

I usually start this project in February and I have flowers by early May. I like to create a mixture in my containers so I choose complementary colors of hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, and fill in with tiny grape hyacinths. For synchronized blooms, be sure to combine bulbs that have similar chilling periods – this is usually shown in the directions on the bag.

Once you’ve chosen your mixture of bulbs, the rest is easy! Begin with a shallow, clean pot with drainage holes. When planted, the base of the bulbs should be at least two inches above the bottom of the pot with the bulb top even with the top of the container. Clay pots work well for this but I like to use an old enamelware basin that’s already got rust holes in the bottom.

Fill the pot about half-way with al purpose potting soil mixed with bonemeal and place your bulbs close together but not touching. Be careful to not press down on the bulbs because you’ll compact the soil underneath. Once all the bulbs are in place, cover with soil and water thoroughly. Be sure to label the pot with the varieties and date you’ve planted them.

Remember that you’re fooling the bulbs into thinking it’s spring so first you have to make them think it’s winter! Place your pot in a cold, dark place such as an unheated basement room or even your garage fridge – anywhere with a 35 to 50 degree temperature range. Most bulbs need about 12 weeks to root. Once you see stems about one-inch high and roots coming through the drainage holes, move your pot to a cool room and keep it out of direct sunlight (leave for a week or so.) After the stems get to about four-inches high, move into a bright, warm area and be sure to keep the soil moist while growing. For extended blooming, keep the flowers out of direct sunlight.

To save the bulbs, be sure to let them finish their “growing season” in the pot. Once the flowers die and the foliage yellows, cut back on watering. When the leaves have completely withered, store your pots in a warm, dry place and plant the bulbs outside in the fall (or start the above process over for indoor blooming.)

Get started today with this fun little project and you’ll be the first one on the block with tulips. Happy Gardening!