Growing narcissus in pebbles

The pebble method, clean, reusable, whats not to like?

I thought I had covered the planting of narcissus in every which way that was possible, but it turns out I have not.  While on the internet researching how to plant narcissus, the mother stumbled across a video in which a lady planted in pebbles.  Thinking about it now, I do not know why she was on the internet researching that in the first place!  She knows how to plant them, I doubt the theory has changed a vast amount, a narcissus is fairly constant in what it likes.
Anyway in this video this nice American lady plants narcissus in nothing but pebbles in a glass vase.  Planting in bulb fibre is hardly messy, but planting in pebbles is definitely a cleaner, less fuss option.  Also unless you have a packed winter planting schedule, more than likely you end up with half a bag of bulb fibre kicking about, superfluous to requirements.  I imagine that if you plant in pebbles you just turf out the bulbs when they are done and keep the pebbles for next year.  After the first year investment in pebbles it becomes a cheap planting option, which appeals to me greatly.

The bulb ideally does not want a furry coating of mould, this was probably the worst affected bulb

Unfortunately I lacked all the necessary ingredients for this method- bulbs, pot and pebbles.  The mother's bulbs were already safely tucked up in their bulb fibre, chilling in the garage, so I thought I would just make a note of the method and try it next year.  However, if you watch the video, the lady says to save some of the bulbs for successive planting through the winter months.  That being the case I couldn't see why, if I could get hold of some, I couldn't still plant them.  Bulbs aren't aware when they were bought after all.  Luckily I got hold of some narcissus 'ziva' from crocus.co.uk and at 20 per cent off no less as the season was getting long in the tooth.  Apparently it pays to buy late!  The pot and pebbles were purchased the same day as my Amaryllis bonanza.  Unfortunately the garden centre did not appear to sell pebbles specifically for 'that narcissus pot you have planned' so I bought really small grade pea gravel.  And this is where the theory on it being a 'cleaner' method falls apart.  Being largely intended for a pathway the pebbles were covered in sandy dirt so after digging them out of the bag I had to give them a good washing.  In December, in the freezing cold, joy.
While the lady said you could keep the bulbs, I doubt she meant tucked up in the jiffy bag they were sent in for several weeks.  When I got mine out I discovered they were gently moulding, oops.  Clearly this was not a good sign, but I didn't have anything to lose in planting them, they will either grow or they won't.  The mould was on the outside layers of the bulb so I just peeled the bulbs like onions.
The lady planted her bulbs in a glass vase, and I now know why.  Its very difficult to tell when you have put in two inches of pebbles, or how much water to put in when you can't see the level.  In the first pot I nestled my bulbs in first, then added a few extra pebbles to secure them and then poured in some water.  Problem is, I couldn't tell how high the level was and if its over the bulbs they will rot.  So I had to pluck one out and check the level and then replace them.  The next pot I thought I would be really clever and put the water in first, but then I just couldn't get those bulb bums nestled nicely in the stones.

So the motto of the story is; get a clear glass vase.  I will be keeping my peepers peeled all year for some.  Then I will have two other pots to plant something else in, yay!