Q: I bought several kinds of spring flowering bulbs. I intended to plant them outside, but didn't get around to doing it and now the ground is frozen. I noticed on the packaging that some of them say they are "good for forcing." I am not sure what that means, but I think I can grow them indoors. I would rather do that than throw them away. What do I have to do?

A: I am not sure who coined the term "forcing" as it applies to bulbs, but they don't need to be forced unless you want a spring bloomer to flower at Christmas. Just give them the normal conditions they would receive in nature and they will grow and bloom just fine.

You can't grow tulips and other bulbs outdoors in warm southern or coastal climates, but you can "force" the bulbs into pots for enjoyment in the spring.

Many of the spring blooming bulbs, like tulips, come from Asian mountainous regions. These high-altitude areas have two growing seasons in the spring and fall. The winter is cold but the ground is snow covered and the summer is hot and dry.

What you are trying to do at this time of year is mimic a cold mountain. Wintertime mountainous air may get very cold, but the bulbs would be buried in the ground and under a warm blanket of snow. The bulbs would remain at around the freezing point, but not colder.

If you are in a cold climate, you can place the bulbs outdoors or in an unheated building, and in a warm climate they can go in the freezer or refrigerator. But remember, the bulbs can get to the freezing point and not much colder. Outdoors, this may mean covering the potted bulbs with piles of straw or leaves. The insulation will keep the bulbs from getting too cold and it can be removed easily as the pots are pulled out during the winter or early spring. The pots may need to be wrapped in chicken wire to keep rodents from eating them.

An unheated building may get too cold at some point during the winter. Bulbs that get too cold will have dead flower and leaf buds. They won't bloom in the spring, but they may re-grow leaf buds and still leaf out in the spring as the bulb struggles to survive.

A minimum of two months of cold is necessary for early spring bloomers like crocus or snowdrops. Three months is better for bigger bulbs like tulips and daffodils.

Let's move to spring. Bring the potted bulbs indoors so they can begin warming up. What is spring like in the mountains? It is bright and sunny, but it is also cool. Don't put the bulbs in a warm place. They will think it is summer and they will go through the blooming stage too fast. If they are in too dark of a location they will get too tall and spindly.

During spring, the bulb will use food produced in the leaves to grow seeds at the expense of the bulb. Cut off seed stalks to direct the food into the bulb. Cutting off leaves will reduce the size or completely kill the bulb.

In the summer, the bulbs will go dormant again. This is the time that they can be dug up and transplanted. This is the life cycle stage the bulbs were in when you bought them.

During the fall, wild bulbs grow roots and if they don't already have a flower bud in place, they may start it now. Good root growth in the fall will allow the bulb to grow faster in the spring — and in the mountains take advantage of limited amounts of water. Planting bulbs in the fall at the right time is designed to let the bulbs grow roots before they go dormant for the winter. This is the life cycle stage your bulbs have skipped so far.

Your bulbs are still in summer. Plant them in flowerpots with drainage holes. Use any good potting soil mix. Set the bulbs smaller than two inches in diameter an inch or two into the soil. Bigger bulbs can have the growing tip under or above the top of the soil by about half an inch. They need a couple of inches of soil under the bulb for the roots to spread out. Soak the soil and then let the pots drain out.

If possible, place the bulbs in a location where they can cool off into the low 40s for a couple of weeks to mimic fall weather. Next, place them where they can stay between 32 and 40 degrees, and in the dark. Check to make sure the soil doesn't dry out. Place them in plastic bags if necessary to retain humidity. After a few months or when the new shoots have come up a couple of inches, it is time for the pots to move into spring.

Plant only one kind of bulb in a pot and label the pot. In the spring you can mix the pots for a better arrangement of what is in bloom at the same time. If they are all in one pot, some may not be in bloom when others are in full bloom and the effect is not as nice.

Smaller-growing bulbs work better in pots than big, tall tulips and daffodils. Bulbs that are labeled as being good for forcing are better than ones without the label. Next summer you can plant the bulbs after they have gone dormant. If they are small bulbs, like grape hyacinth, they may bloom the following spring. Larger bulbs may take a couple of years to bloom again.

Paperwhite narcissus and amaryllis are bulbs from dry, warm climates that don't undergo a cold winter dormancy. That is why they can be "forced" indoors without first undergoing the cold storage.

E-mail questions to Jeff Rugg, Kendall County unit educator, University of Illinois Extension at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.