How to Grow Paperwhite Narcissus in Seashells for Winter Fragrance & Indoor Beauty

Wonder what you're going to do with those seashells your family collected at the beach this summer? You can use them to grow paperwhite narcissus this winter for fragrance and beauty without using soil, and the seashells add an exotic flare when used as a planter. Paperwhite narcissus bulbs are easy find and easy to grow indoors. If you stagger your bulb planting, you can have fragrant paperwhite narcissus blooms indoors throughout the winter.

How To Grow Paperwhite Narcissus In Seashells

You will need large seashells, paperwhite narcissus bulbs, small gravel, dishwashing liquid and water for this project.

Wash the seashells with diluted dishwashing liquid to remove all the saltwater and sand, rinse the seashells well. Conch or Murex seashells work well for growing paperwhites.

Fill two-thirds of the seashell's cavity with the small gravel. Use small gravel like the type placed in aquariums, which can be found at pet supply stores or craft supply stores.

Position the paperwhite narcissus in the gravel so they are close to each other but not touching. Push each narcissus bulb into the gravel to anchor it securely and ensure the bulb roots are under the gravel. The size of your seashell will determine how many narcissus bulbs you can plant, usually between 1-3 bulbs per seashell.

Add more gravel to the seashell to cover the bottom two-thirds of the narcissus bulbs. As the narcissus bulbs grow, the roots of the plant will push the bulb up, the extra gravel on top will help keep the flower bulbs anchored in the seashell.

Add water to fill the seashell and keep this water level constant throughout the growing and blooming stages of the paperwhite narcissus.

Place the seashells in a sunny window where they will away from any extreme cold or heat. In a few weeks (usually 2-3) you will have fragrant white blooms on tall slender stems growing out of your seashells.

Dispose of the flower bulbs once they blooms have faded. That's the only downside to growing paperwhite narcissus, they're one-time bloomers only.

Plant new narcissus bulbs every 3-4 weeks and you can enjoy their fragrance and beauty throughout the dull winter months. You can re-use the same seashells and gravel for future bulb plantings or other containers you may have on hand.

Growing paperwhite narcissus in seashells (or any container) is so easy it's practically foolproof. Even if you don't have the proverbial green thumb, you can still grow these delicate fragrant flowers for indoor beauty this winter.