Growing Paperwhites At Christmas Reminds Me Of When I Was In College

Each November, I lift brown bulbs from a mesh bag, dust off papery skins, and place the ugly lumps in a glass bowls filled with pebbles. Given sufficient light and water, these inauspicious items will produce lovely flowers in a few weeks. And I mark another year.

My mother’s emerald thumb found her planting pansies each spring. In autumn, she massed chrysanthemums on the brick front steps. Each winter, she coaxed paper whites, Amaryllis bulbs and Christmas cactuses into profuse displays.

Gar...