Hyacinths
Indoors or out, hyacinths bring a splash of colour and a wonderful waft of scent,
When we look at the fat candles of fragrant blooms delivered by modern hyacinth varieties, it’s hard to imagine how wispy and ethereal was their ancestor, Hyacinthus orientalis.
Originally from the rocky limestone cliffs of the eastern Mediterranean, bulbs were grown in Italy and the netherlands during the 1500s and became so popular that, by the 18th century, there were more than 2,000 varieties.
Browsing in an antiquarian bookshop in Stroud recently, I came across A Redoute Treasury (468 Watercolours from Les Liliacees) which on publication in 1986 would have cost me £40. now residing in a bargain bucket, this large book of reproduced paintings was down to £3, about the same price as a cup of posh coffee.
Redoute, the ‘Raphael of Flowers’ was employed by the empress Josephine Bonaparte to record the plants in her gardens at Malmaison and he started Liliacees in 1802. It’s fascinating to see how many plants had been discovered, grown and illustrated at this point and to admire the delicate blue flowers of hyacinth or ‘jasinthe’ in its wild form.
Double hyacinths started to appear in the 1600s but by the time Redoute took up his brush, singles had returned to fashion and were more widely grown.
These showy spring flowers are still popular, for their sweet scent and colour range, but maybe because the original species was blue cultivars of this shade still seem to have the best fragrance.
They look great in pots and bowls indoors, as spring bedding outdoors and work really well in containers placed near doorways where everyone can watch them emerging.
Should you find modern ‘Dutch’ hyacinths too ‘blocky’, you can track down daintier Roman and Multiflora types, closer to the original species.
During autumn, plant hyacinth bulbs outdoors 6in (15cm) deep – that is, with at least 3in (8cm) of soil over the top of them – into well-drained soil where they’ll receive good sunlight. Leave 6in (15cm) between bulbs or set them here and there among other plants.
For a container I like nothing better than white-flowered ‘Carnegie’ planted 4in (10cm) apart with adequate, wellcrocked drainage holes. Use a 50:50 John Innes no2 and soilless (or even onceused) compost, with a little added grit.