Forcing hyacinths in water: Snowy day report
Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 12:20PM 
Forcing hyacinth bulbs in water. These were set in the bowl on Dec. 22 Forcing spring bulbs in water was so much fun last year that I decided to do it again.
I had not planned the blow-by-blow progress posts this year, but I shoveled 8 inches of snow (I measured) from my driveway starting at 7:13 a.m. I finished at 8:33 just so I could go for a little drive on the Union County roads I knew would be cleared.
Now it's 12:24, I'm back home, and the scene from my window looks like I never shoveled at all. So, here is an update on my bulbs.
On Dec. 22, I put hyachinth bulbs on marbles in my blue bowl/vase. I put them in my unheated basement and covered them with very loosely woven burlap cloth. Over the weeks they developed the roots shown, and grew robustly without light. Last Monday (Jan 18), I decided to bring them upstairs because their tops were already touching the burlap and some leaves had dark tips. I wasn't sure if they were being injured by the fabric, so I took it off and put them in the usual place near a sunny living room window.
They've greened up nicely. Here's what they look like on a snow-covered day.
Hyacinths being forced in water. They are shown above with one month's growth.