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Nothing surpasses the first
hyacinths for scent, It's like time travel for the nose having wonderfully fragrant
hyacinths in full bloom in the middle of the winter, it always seems like
the greatest luxury. Plant 3 or 4 of one colour per bowl. Don't be tempted to
mix
Outdoor hyacinths are best planted near to the house where you will see them and smell them, even the large varieties are very close to the ground. Alternatively I plant them out of the way but near a path, there's a large patch now at the bottom of the garden near the compost heap, (no, not to get rid of the smell), but for cutting and bringing into the house. I can't ever remember buying a hyacinth bulb and planting it into the soil directly, all of ours are ex-container grown ones that spent their first year in the house. If you start before about the middle of September (but the sooner the better), you can have flowering Hyacinth bulbs for the house in flower at or just after Christmas. If you can get them planted before November, then they will have a chance to start growing before it begins to get very cold which will help them to flower all the earlier, they'll certainly be up early in the new year and long before the outdoor ones have woken up.
Hyacinth Care
Hyacinths to Buy
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different varieties as the chances are they won't flower all at the same
time. I tend to go for the blues and whites, which as well as being my favourite
flower colours, are reliable. Be sure to get bulbs that are "prepared", meaning
they have had a period of cold already and when potted are convinced it's time
to wake up for spring. This is not necessary when planting outdoors.
1/ Use prepared bulbs
- these are large bulbs that have been subjected to a period of cold before
you buy them, this convinces the bulbs that winter has just happened and so
it's time for them to start growing again. Such bulbs should only be
used for containers intended for the house over the Christmas / winter period
and not planted outdoors.