Celebrating the year of the hyacinth
Treasured by gardeners for their rich colours and fragrance
Last weekend’s glorious weather encouraged me to spend most of the weekend out-of-doors, working in my own garden and visiting some of the beautiful public parks here in Niagara. This is probably the first year that I’ve actually had the luxury of a little extra time to tuck the garden in for the winter. In the process, several hundred extra spring bulbs have been planted — I’m hoping to welcome 2021 with a flourish of spring colour.
The National Garden Bureau (www.ngb.org) has chosen the hyacinth as their bulb selection for 2021 — please enjoy the following information, courtesy of our friends at the NGB. I have included my tips for recycling potted hyacinth bulbs.
Hyacinths are spring-flowering bulbs that are treasured by gardeners for their heavenly fragrance.
Overview and History
Flower lovers began cultivating hyacinths more than 400 years ago. During the 18th century, they were the most popular spring bulbs in the world. Dutch growers offered more than 2,000 named cultivars. Today, there are less than 50 cultivars in commercial production, but the hyacinth’s beauty and sweet perfume are as enchanting as ever.
Commonly called Dutch hyacinths or garden hyacinths, they are hybrids of a single species ( Hyacinthus orientalis) that grows wild in Turkey, Syria, and other areas in the eastern Mediterranean.
Basic Types and Variety Names
Today’s garden hyacinths look very different from the wild species. After centuries of breeding, they have taller flower spikes and much larger, mostly double florets that are tightly packed along the stem. Each hyacinth bulb produces a single 20 to 30 cm tall flower stalk and four to six strappy leaves. The blossoms open in mid-spring, at the same time as daffodils and early tulips.
Hyacinths come in rich, saturated colours. The most popular cultivars are shades of purple and blue, which include Blue Jacket (royal blue), Delft Blue (cerulean), and Aida (violet-blue). Other colours are equally lovely and suggest lots of creative pairings. These include Woodstock (burgundy), Jan Bos (hot pink), Aiolos (white), Gypsy Queen (peach), and City of Haarlem (pale yellow).
Garden Tips for Hyacinths:
Plant hyacinth bulbs where it will be easy to enjoy their fragrance: near a doorway, along a garden path, or at the front edge of a flower border.
Hyacinth bulbs can cause mild skin irritation. Wear gloves when planting them or wash your hands after handling them. Hyacinth bulbs contain oxalic acid, which makes them unappealing to chipmunks and voles as well as deer. Hyacinths are long-lasting cut flowers that will perfume an entire room. Plant some bulbs in your vegetable garden so you can cut and share the blooms.
Hyacinths flower in early to midspring at the same time as emperor and double early tulips, mid-season daffodils, chionodoxa, scilla and grape hyacinths (Muscari).
Encourage hyacinths to bloom for more than one year by cutting off the flower spikes as soon as the flowers fade.
How to Grow Hyacinths in the Garden
Hyacinth bulbs are planted in mid to late fall, at the same time as tulips and daffodils. Choose a planting location with well-drained soil that never gets soggy. Full sun is best, though hyacinths will also grow in light shade. Plant the bulbs in groups of five or more, spaced about 12 cm apart on centre, and buried 10 -12 cm deep. Consider planting extra hyacinth bulbs to cut and enjoy indoors.
Like tulips, hyacinths always look their best the first spring after planting. For this reason, most gardeners plant fresh bulbs every year or two. While the bulbs will usually re-bloom for several years, they will gradually revert to the original species, with single florets that are widely spaced along the stem.
Container grown Hyacinths
Pots of hyacinths are available from local garden centres in the spring, they make long-lasting (and very fragrant) additions to spring planters. When they have finished blooming, recycle the bulbs by planting them out in the garden.
Having read the warnings about hyacinths fizzling out after the first year or two, I hesitantly planted my first recycled hyacinths about five or six years ago. I needn’t have worried, they came back and bloomed with great charm. Since that first experiment, I replant all of the container-grown hyacinths into one area of the garden and now have a sizable patch that blooms in a rainbow of colours; they come back year after year. They may not be quite as full as the first year flowers, but I actually prefer the more relaxed bloom clusters — the softer look suits the garden.
When the bulbs have finished blooming, I cut back the flower stalks and allow the foliage to die back. The bulbs are planted midway into the border, where summer blooming perennials and grasses help to screen the dying foliage.
How to Force Hyacinths for Indoor Blooms
Growing hyacinths indoors lets you get a jump on spring, with fragrant blooms that last for weeks. Plant the bulbs in late fall. Use pots that have drainage holes on the bottom and are approximately 15-cm deep. Fill them with moist growing mix (not garden soil) and plant the bulbs 5cm apart with the top of the bulb about 2.5 cm below the soil surface. Water lightly.
To bloom properly, potted hyacinth bulbs must be exposed to consistently cold temperatures (4-7 deg C) for a minimum of 10 weeks. An unheated garage can work as long as the bulbs do not freeze. After this chilling period, move the pots to a sunny window and enjoy watching them come into flower.