A COASTAL GARDNER:Paperwhites prefer Jack Daniels

Giving your Paperwhite and other narcissus a nip of vodka, gin or whiskey could prevent them from falling over. It’s true. Grab a bottle and keep reading.

One of the easiest and most popular winter duties is growing pots of beautiful, fragrant Paperwhite Narcissus. Paperwhites provide clusters of white flowers and perfume the season. For a beautiful blooming centerpiece on your Christmas table, start your Paperwhites this weekend or next. For New Year’s Day bloom, wait one more week.

Unlike most bulbs that require a period of dark, cool temperatures, Paperwhites will grow and bloom without waiting — and without soil!

Start with the biggest bulbs you can find. Bigger bulbs mean more flowers; small bulbs may not flower at all. Try this: With a medium-size hand, see if you can reach around the bulb and touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your middle finger. If you can, shop somewhere else — these bulbs are too small. A one-inch gap is even better. Use as many bulbs as will fit in the container you plan to use. Crowd them together; anything less will look sparse on Christmas day.

Paperwhites will grow in just about any container, from a shallow bowl to a tall, clear vase. To hold the bulbs in place, use almost any material, such as pebbles, glass marbles, sand or soil.

Put a shallow layer of your planting material in the bottom of the container and place the bulbs on top. Cover the bulbs with more of the material and leave the tip of the bulb either just below the surface or as much as half exposed. Add water over the bulbs into the planter until the water reaches a level just below the bottom of the bulbs. Check the water level every day or two and add more as needed. Soon, leaves will grow, followed by fragrant white flowers.

The common frustration about growing Paperwhites is that they become too tall and flop over. The best way to avoid this is to grow the container outdoors, in a bright location , where they receive the full effects of a warm day and a cool night. When the buds are plump and about ready to pop, bring them indoors.

Now here’s where the gin comes in. Cornell University research found that a touch of booze is a great way to keep Paperwhites from getting too tall. Diluted solutions of alcohol — but not sugary beer or wine — are an effective way to shorten stem and leaf growth.

When a 4% to 6% dilution of liquor is properly used, Paperwhites will grow 30% to 50% smaller, but their flowers will be as large, fragrant and long-lasting as usual.

If you decide to liquor up your Paperwhites this holiday season, wait until the shoots are a couple of inches high, then drain the water and replace it with a solution of 4% to 6% alcohol — such as dry gin, unflavored vodka, whiskey, white rum, gold tequila or mint schnapps. To get a 5% solution from 80-proof liquor, which is 40% alcohol (such as gin, vodka, whiskey, rum or tequila), add one part liquor to seven parts water. Don’t overdo it — concentrations over 10% alcohol may harm the plants — and don’t use beer or wine. Now simply use this solution instead of water.It may be the only time this holiday season that a nip of gin will prevent something from falling over.