Hyacinthus

The sweetly perfumed, colourful flowers of Hyacinths appear in mid Spring - it would appear that in our Andalucian gardens that we get them slightly earlier this year as they have started to grow already!

The plants, with their errect, cylindrical flowerheads and fleshy, strap-like leaves, retain their perfection for two to three weeks. The flower may seem densely packed - carrying up to 60 individual bell-shaped florets - or more loosely spaced as in the "fairy" types - you may also be wise to support the hyacinth with some wood up against the stem (like shown in the image).

Multiflora hyacinths are grown from bulbs that have been specially treated to produce several smaller flower spikes instead of one dense spike. They are sold by colour only.

There are also double-flowered varieties. Hyacinths are full hardy and ideal for planting in containers/pots (as we do), as well as informal borders and formal bedding schemes. For text book results, buy new bulbs every year, however, we are on the second year with the same bulb and all that was required was watering and then every Spring the bulb should grow again.

The once-used bulbs produce fewer flowers per stem and can be replanted in less formal areas of the garden. To flower indoors in mid winter, bulbs specially prepared for forcing can be bought in Autumn.

Recommended Species and Varieties
Hyacinth Orientalis - This parent of all the modern hyacinth cultivars produces sparsely flowered stems, up to 20cm (8in) tall, bearing blue, violet, pink or white flowers. Indoors, prepared bulbs will flower from Christmas to late winter; non-prepared bulbs bloom from late winter to early spring. There are earlier and later varieties - but all flower within a month of one another.

Early flowering varieties include:

• Anna Marie - Light rosy pink flowers


• Ben Nevis - Ivory-white double flowers


• Bismarck - Methyl-violet blooms


• Blue Magic - Purple-violet flowers


• Borah - Fairy type with porcelain-blue flowers


• Delft Blue - Blooms of soft-lilac blue


• Jan Bros - Red Blooms


• L'Innocence - Ivory-white flowers


• Lady Derby - Rose-pink flowers


• Ostara - Deep blue flowers


• Pink Pearl - Deep pink blooms


• Violet Pearl - Mallow-purple flowers

Mid-season flowering varieties include:

• Blue Jacket - Dark blue flowers with a purple stripe


• Gipsy Queen - Dark salmon and apricot flowers

Late flowering varieties include:

• Amethyst - Lilac-violet flowers


• Carnegie - Dense spike of white flowers


• City of Haarlem - Primrose-yellow blooms


• Distinction - Beetroot-purple flowers


• Hollyhock - Crimson flowers


• Peter Stuyvesant - Dark violet blooms

Cultivation
Plant bulbs outside from late summer to late autumn in a sunny position in fairly fertile, well-drained soil. Set 15-24cm (6-9 1/2in) apart and 10cm (4in) deep. Plant bulbs for forcing indoors before mid autumn in bulb-forcing compost. Then keep a cool, dark place for 8-10 weeks, ideally at 7-10ºC (45-50ºF): a shed or garage is ideal. Bring into a light, warm room, where they will flower 3 or 4 weeks later. Bulbs can also be grown in hyacinth vases. Keep the bulb in its vase in a cool, dark place until its roots have developed, making sure that the builb itself does not touch the water, or it may rot.

Propagation
Producing fresh hyacinth bulbs involves specialist techniques: buy new bulbs. Hyacinths take 6 years or more to flower if grown from seed!

Pests and Diseases
Hyacinths may be affected by grey bulb rot, grey mould, soft rot and yellow disease -which is similar to soft rot and should be treated similarly. They may also be attacked by aphids, bulb mites, narcissus flies, slugs and stem eelworms.