flower brick

I have two new bulb bowls this year. They are much bigger than the only one I had last year which is too small for hyacinths but just right for large crocus bulbs.

I have filled these with water, placed the hyacinth bulbs over the large holes and put them in the cellar with the rest of the pots and vases (some pictured below). I think if I used bulb fibre the roots would push the bulbs up and off the lids.

I'm still not sure what to do with these flower bricks. I think they are just for cut flowers but I'm not sure what type of flowers would work best. I guess tulips were very popular at the time they were first produced. I did think before of putting a bulb in the large hole in the middle but I have since read that that hole was for pouring in water.

These pots are awaiting the  crocus bulbs that are still in the fridge being prepared. After 6 weeks in the fridge I will pot them up but still keep them in the cellar but not in the fridge.

I cut this hyacinth bulb open to show the flower already developed inside. When the bulge of that flower is out of the bulb it is ready to come out of the dark (about 1 December).

These are not hyacinth vases although I use them to grow hyacinths. Any vase that holds the bulb above water can work as a hyacinth vase.

I'm interested in anything that can be used to grow bulbs indoors.

The bulb bowls with lids with holes seem to be straightforward enough. The bulbs (crocus or hyacinth, depending on size of the holes) go in the holes on top. How does one use a flower brick? The large hole seems perfect for a crocus bulb but I'm not sure if they were made for that or were just made for cut flowers. I managed to find a few spent bulbs to show a comparison of the hole sizes.

The main question with the bulb bowls is whether to put the bulbs on top of the lid or underneath. I think they were made for the bulbs to go on top. Before I knew that I put them underneath. Both methods have their pros and cons.

The empty hole (below) was because the crocus bulb dropped down as it was a bit small. The largest bulbs are required to sit on top. Some roots can also be seen around the edge of the bulbs preventing them from sitting neatly in the holes.

The bowl below looks quite neat with the bulbs beneath the lid but that isn't always the case as in the pic below that as it shows how multiple stems can be a tight fit in the holes and the roots push the bulbs up, dislodging the lid.

I'd love to see how these ceramic items were actually used rather than my attempts. If anyone can direct me to paintings that feature them, it would be great, thanks (julie @ gardenwithindoors.org.uk).

I'm not sure if this was made for cuttings or bulbs or either. I'm going to use it for small bulbs.

And of course one can use small pots for small bulbs indoors. Below are a couple purchased recently at the front and a couple of vases and the bulb bowls and flower bricks for size comparison.