Narcissus

1/23/25 Paperwhite narcissus

The friend who has often given me amaryllis plants for Christmas gave me a paperwhite narcissus “kit” this time. Unlike the rapidly growing amaryllis, which is so much fun to sketch because it visibly changes every day, the narcissus has been sluggish. After following the planting instructions, it changed so little for so long that I thought for sure I had already killed it (this kit is supposed to be foolproof for black thumbs like mine . . . we’ll see). Onion-like sprouts did start coming up eventually, though very slowly.

Impatient for blossoms, I thought I’d sketch it now at the onion stage to encourage it to bloom. If I don’t kill it before that happens, I’ll sketch it again when it does!