My mom and I went to Anawalt Lumber in the second or third week after her move to Los Angeles. She bought a couple of small trees which I planted near her front door. I bought narcissus bulbs. You can buy ready-to-go narcissus bulbs at Trader Joe's, (ie. they're already situated in a little pot with earth). All you have to do is water them from time to time and wait for the bright green hints of early springtime to shoot forth. I figured I already had pots and dirt so the three bulbs for $3 would suffice.
One bulb emerged remarkably quickly. I kept the soil damp - perhaps too damp as little mushrooms started appearing on the surface. I wondered if this was dangerous. I googled "Is it dangerous to grow mushrooms indoors." You can find every type of opposing answers to simple questions online. Generally the answer seemed to be 'no'.
I replanted the virtuoso bulb in a mason jar on its own. I marveled at the white strands pushing through the soil against the glass wall of the jar. There's something so satisfying about looking at roots 'in action'. I eventually made the realization that they were not roots sprouting from the narcissus bulb. They were in fact a mycelial network sprouting up more little mushrooms on the surface. For some inexplicable reason I thought this was gross.
The small paperwhite flowers bloomed a week or so later. The scent is particular - somewhat pretty somewhat not-so-pretty. Rob was sitting on the sofa and asked me if I smelled cat pee. No.
"I feel like I'm smelling cat pee" he insisted.
I took a picture of the blossoms and posted it on Instagram.
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