Care to grow flowers indoors this winter?

Certain bulbs — such as daffodils, hyacinths, tulips and crocuses — are excellent for forcing in pots in the greenhouse or home.

They need to be chilled for six to 10 weeks at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below to fulfill the requirements of a dormant period. Plant them in pots in the fall and leave in a cold place before bringing inside for forcing. Place the pots in a cold frame outside, plunge the pots into the ground and mulch. Do not allow the pots to dry out.

When they are brought inside, gradually acclimate them to indoor conditions if possible, keeping them at 50 to 60 degrees for a few days.

• Terra cotta containers should be stored out of the elements for winter. When plants in these containers are finished for the year, dump out the growing medium and store the pots in a garage or shed so they are out of the rain. These containers absorb water and the freeze-and-thaw cycles of winter can crack them if they are left outside.

If you need to leave them outside over winter, it is best to elevate them above the ground, store upside down and cover with a tarp to keep the pots dry.

• Any soilless mix from window boxes or containers can be discarded, mixed in a compost pile, blended into a garden bed or kept aside for one more year. If the growing medium is used for a second year, mix equal parts of the old mix with fresh soilless mix next year. Avoid reusing medium from containers that had any problems with disease.

• Try pinning garden netting over freshly planted beds of bulbs to discourage chipmunks and squirrels from digging up the bulbs. This does not work well when drifting bulbs into shrub and perennial borders and the bulbs are spread out over a larger area, because existing plants will be in the way of the netting.

Remove the netting in early winter when the ground has frozen or in early spring. A light layer of mulch over the netting helps to hide it. Spreading blood meal over the bed may also work to repel chipmunks and squirrels.

Though not feasible on a large scale, you can protect small pockets of bulbs by covering them with chicken wire or other mesh with 1-inch openings underground to protect them from being dug up. The bulbs will grow through the chicken wire in spring.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.