SKU: 80697812939
paper white lily bulbs

paper white lily bulbs Old-Fashioned Paperwhites

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Description

paper white lily bulbs Old-Fashioned PaperwhitesNarcissus tazetta papyraceous Old fashioned paperwhites bloom anytime from Thanksgiving to January across the Southern United States. Some years they are spectacular, and others they are not. Sometimes you'll be waiting for a bloom and a blue norther will come through and freeze the buds (the plants themselves will be fine it can be disappointing!) However, some years they do exactly what you want them to do and they give you a winter show you've been

Narcissus tazetta papyraceous

Old fashioned paperwhites bloom anytime from Thanksgiving to January across the Southern United States. Some years they are spectacular, and others they are not. Sometimes you'll be waiting for a bloom and a blue norther will come through and freeze the buds (the plants themselves will be fine...it can be disappointing!) However, some years they do exactly what you want them to do and they give you a winter show you've been waiting for. We offer a mixture of bulb sizes of paperwhites collected from many different old locations - they generally bloom on the same schedule. We hope you enjoy! 

Did you know there used to be many, many different historic types of paperwhites? At least I've been told that, but now we're down to about 4-5 main varieties that are primarily used for forcing. (Forcing is where you can plant them in pots or in the ground and have them bloom about 5 weeks later, enabling you to time them for special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's celebrations.)

The older varieties, though, can still be found in older gardens or abandoned homesites. Here's how they differ:

  1. They generally bloom from late November through the first week of January.
  2. They aren't as compact. They're more of a free-flowering, clumping form of garden flower — don't plan on them standing at attention and blooming compact blooms like forced paperwhites do.
  3. You treat them like perennials and let them follow the same path as daffodils in your garden (they're both in the genus Narcissus) — meaning you let the foliage live and die down naturally, so you'll have greyish-green foliage through May of the next spring.

I mention all this so you know to treat these like garden perennials, not as florist-quality annuals in a showy pot or entryway to your house. Mix them with other winter-blooming bulbs like 'Grand Primo,' campernelles, and snowflakes, and plant them with perennial shrubs like salvias, plumbago, or lantana. Let the winter-blooming old-fashioned heirloom paperwhites fill the late November/December gap in perennial garden blooms, and use the fall forcing paperwhites for more formal pot combinations or annual color change-outs in the areas closest to the home. 

These are a Southern gardener's dream (zones 8-11!). Paperwhites are native to the western Mediterranean — Spain, Portugal, southern Italy, North Africa — places with mild wet winters and hot dry summers. Sound familiar? It's essentially the climate of the Deep South, the Gulf Coast, coastal California, and warmer parts of Texas. Plant them here and you're giving them exactly what they evolved for. Even better, they bloom in early winter, filling that quiet gap when almost nothing else in the perennial garden is doing anything at all.

The scent controversy: Here's a fun bit of science behind that famous fragrance: paperwhites contain a compound called indole — the same chemical found in jasmine and orange blossom (and, in higher concentrations, in decay). At low levels indole reads as sweet and floral; at higher levels it tips into something funky and animalic. This is why people are so polarized about paperwhite smell — some find it heavenly, others say it's not so great. Both reactions are chemically valid; your nose is detecting real compounds, just interpreting them differently.

Outdoors, though, the whole conversation changes. In open air, the heavier indole notes dissipate quickly and what's left is the sweet, floral side drifting on the breeze. No four walls to trap it, no overwhelming the dinner table. Just a beautiful surprise of fragrance as you walk past on a December morning — exactly the kind of unexpected gift a winter garden should offer.

These are true heirlooms — no fancy variety name, just an old-fashioned strain we've been growing at the farm for several years. The kind of paperwhite that, once planted, sticks around. 

They multiply. A single bulb develops into a substantial clump within 3-5 years, and those clumps keep expanding and blooming faithfully for decades. This is why you find them still going strong at homesites where the house disappeared generations ago.

Planting: You can wait, but why would you? Plant them now and let the ground protect them (plus, you won't forget about them). The bulbs are dormant, but planting them now gives them time to settle in before sending up blooms this coming winter.

Plant 2-3 times as deep as the bulb is tall, in well-drained soil with 6+ hours of winter sun. If you really want to wait until the fall, you can. Just keep them in a location out of direct sunlight where the air can flow around them. 

Animals: Nothing eats them. Like all narcissus, paperwhites are toxic to deer, squirrels, voles, rabbits, and gophers. Plant them and forget the critter worries — this is a big part of why heirloom clumps persist for a century or more.

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SKU: 80697812939

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4.2 ★★★★★
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Product Reviews
J
Verified Purchase
J.W.
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 4
Great insight into each view, but disappointing format
Format: Paperback
The Zondervan Counterpoints series prides itself in giving known advocates of specific views a place to exposit their positions on various theological topics while also giving other positions an equal opportunity. This work continues to shine in that department. Each view was given enough space to give a general outline of the book of Revelation as well as a defense of their specifically preferred view. Each essay was very well done and gave a fair reading of the views that were included. However, it was very disappointing to see that unlike most other books in the series, this one did not have specific sections for each author to respond to the other views. There was some interaction via footnotes about the other essays, but the book would have been much better if each author had been given an opportunity to interact with the others. Reading the other reviews, I noticed lots of disappointment with the lack of including the historicist position. I share that disappointment, but would be hesitant to agree with the reviews that insisted there were only three views presented. The two dispensationalists included in the book had radically different approaches to hermeneutics. There were genuinely 4 views presented. Finally, I have noticed many of the reviews on here tend to give the book fewer stars based on their preferred view either not being there or because other views were perceived as so obviously wrong as to deserve attack. I give the book four stars because I think each presentation was an accurate, thought-provoking look at the view presented. It is disappointing that the historicist view was not included. It was also disappointing that the authors had little interaction other than the footnotes. But overall, if you want a book introducing major views on the book of Revelation, this is a good one to pick up.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2013
E
Verified Purchase
Elisha
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
History
Format: Paperback
Smart people book about end time.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2026
G
Verified Purchase
Guv
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Pick your favorite interpretation
Format: Paperback
A good way to see 4 different interpretations of one prophetic book.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2025
J
Verified Purchase
james p elrod
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 5
Four Views on the Book of Revelation
Format: Kindle
Very thorough and even handed. Good selection of authors to represent various interpretive/ millenial systems. More depth on hermeneutics would have been useful as this is what generates the vast differences in opinions. Introductory coverage of different theological systems prior to the exposition of Revelation is helpful. Good intro to the topic for anyone who wants to get started and good selection of additional reading to supplement the positions taken.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2012
S
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Scott M.
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 4
Preterist view
Format: Kindle
I have never been exposed to the preterist view before. Very intriguing, but not long enough. And self referencing in some spots, seems like they think that you should know what they are talking about. For preterist view that is not always the case. I still don't get the postmil view.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2015

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