Hi Linnea!

I'm 'guessing' that you can force them just fine but that just like if left in the ground, they will not be big and robust like this past spring with their first bloom for you.

Remember this thread...Hyacinths and their flowerings.

I'm guessing that when you remove the bulbs from the pot, that you will probably find bulblets that have grown off of the sides, which would hinder them from being big, robust blooms next spring, even if you remove them the bulblets before repotting this fall.

Please let us know what they look like when you get them out of the pots.

Sue

Usually, forcing bulbs in the house weakens them a lot. They are ok to plant in the garden, where they will recover in a few years. But, I think you could be really disappointed in the results. They may not bloom at all, or they may just have tiny flower stalks with only a few blooms on each stalk -- nothing like what you had last year in terms of size and quality of the display.

Try it if you want and see, you won't be out anything but time and effort. But personally, I would just leave them outside and buy fresh bulbs for forcing.

The general rule for winter bulb forcing is that bulbs should only be forced once and then put into the garden to continue growing and blooming there. Buy new, large ones to force each fall. For forcing, buy the plumpest, largest bulbs you can find. If forcing tulips, look for early blooming, shorter varieties. The stems will naturally elongate a bit when forced indoors. The same for narcissus, although I don't think it is as important to select early varieties, since all narcissus are quite early.