"Hyacinth Bulb"    

Florist Home :: Flower Guides :: Hyacinth Bulb

Growing the Hyacinth Bulb in a Container

The Hyacinth bulb makes an excellent container plant for a window box, or a pot placed near a doorway. Your Hyacinth bulb can be grown in bulb fibre or in a light, rich, sandy soil mixture. Bulbs should be placed in the container so that they nearly touch, and covered with soil until just the tips peek through. After planting, the bulbs should be watered well.

They can be left to flower at their usual time in spring, or forced, to promote blooming in winter. If you are forcing, place in a refrigerator or cold area as described below. When flowering, keep the soil in pots very moist, and do not apply fertilizer.

You can obtain top quality Hyacinth bulbs here. Just click on best quality Hyacinth bulbs.

Forcing the Hyacinth Bulb

Forcing is the term used to describe the special treatment of bulbs so that they will flower before their normal time. For most bulbs, forcing requires a period of cold and darkness to speed up root development before flowering can take place. Your Hyacinth bulb can be forced in potting soil, or without soil over water in special jars.

In the fall Hyacinths, along with Amaryllis and Paperwhites, can be grown without soil in special glass containers called forcing jars, or Hyacinth jars. These specially made containers are constructed in an hourglass shape with a pinched-in waist to support the bulb above water in the bottom of the jar. When your Hyacinth bulb grows it sends out roots into the water beneath.

The glass jar should be filled with water to just under the bottom of the bulb. It is important that the water level is not high enough for the bulb to come in contact with it, because this will rot your bulb (keep the water level at least 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) below the base of the bulb). Adding activated charcoal to the water will keep it fresh longer.

Forcing jars can be made of crystal, cobalt, amythyst or green-colored glass, and they look very decorative grouped together on a window sill.

For forcing, pick firm, unblemished Hyacinth bulbs, the bigger the better. Specially prepared bulbs, potted in early September, can be easily forced in time for the December holidays.

Your Hyacinth plant requires a period of cold temperatures before it will bloom. For blooming in the house, the Hyacinth bulb first needs to be placed in a dark, cool location (about 40 deg F (5 deg C) - a cool cellar, an unheated garage, or a refrigerator, but not the freezer) until the root system is well developed, and growth from the top has just started. Forcing bulbs in garages and basements can be less successful because temperatures in these areas can fluctuate.

Leave your bulb in the cool area for 13 weeks. Already 'prepared' or 'pre-cooled' Hyacinth bulbs need cooling for just 10 weeks; non-prepared bulbs need 13 weeks. Top up the water in the jars occasionally, always keeping the level of water close to, but not touching, the base of the bulb. When forcing Hyacinths (and Amaryllis and Paperwhites) it is important not to store apples, pineapples or other fruit nearby, especially in enclosed areas such as refrigerators. The ripening fruits give off ethylene gas which can kill or damage the developing flower within the bulbs.

When the growing Hyacinth bulb shoots reach about 2 inches (5cm) tall, and the root system extends to the bottom of the water, remove the jar to a slightly warmer area with low light intensity. Gradually condition your plant over the next 3-4 days for its final move to a sunny window, for the leaves and flowers to develop. When the flowers appear, keep in bright, indirect light. Moderate temperatures of 60-65 deg F (15-19 deg C), with night temperature at 50 deg F (10 deg C), or below, will give a longer flowering period. Each day turn the plant round a little so that the flowers do not develop a lean towards the light.

You can force successive flowerings of Hyacinths indoors. When one wave of flowers begin to fade, the container is removed and replaced with a new one full of fresh flowers.

Once your Hyacinth bulb has been forced to bloom, it should either be planted in a sunny spot in your garden, after the last frost, or discarded. It cannot be forced to flower the following year.

Growing Hyacinths in the Garden

In the garden Hyacinth bulbs are easy to grow. A Hyacinth planting in a close group provides a neat, compact, elegant display along walkways, around lamp posts or mail boxes, at the front of a border, or among shrubs. Grow Hyacinth bulbs of one color massed together, for it will look far more effective than an assorted mixture of various colors.

The Hyacinth bulb is hardy, but the foliage and flowers are harmed by a sharp frost and may need some protection in late spring. In the USA they are hardy in USDA Zones 4 - 8. You should start with good quality bulbs, that are hard and heavy. But don't pick the largest bulbs, which are used indoors - choose the medium sized ones.

They need a well-drained, reasonably rich soil in a sunny location. For growing Hyacinth bulbs it is beneficial if well-rotted compost (manure), peat, or leaf-mould, and sand can be incorporated into the soil. Planting time is September to October. Plant each Hyacinth bulb 8 inches (20 cm) deep. Space bulbs about 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) apart in irregular groups of three or more for the best display. They need to be well watered after growth has commenced.

You can have a succession of color if you choose varieties with early, midseason and late blooms.

After blooming cut off the flower stalk to stop the plant diverting energy into seed production. Keep well watered, and let the foliage die down naturally, so that the bulb can build up its food supply for the next year. You can lift your bulbs and store in dry peat or soil until planting time comes round again.

Even with good care Hyacinth flowers will not be so good the second year. And, after a few years, when grown naturalized in the garden, Hyacinth bulb hybrids produce smaller,thinner flower spikes, reverting to look like their wild ancestor species - Hyacinthus orientalis. To obtain the best flowers fresh bulbs must be purchased annually.

You can obtain top quality Hyacinth bulbs here. Just click on best quality Hyacinth bulbs.

Hyacinth Bulb Propagation

The Hyacinth bulb may be propagated vegetatively by removing the bulblets that have developed by the end of the growing season. They can be stored in dry sand or earth till the next planting time. They will take two or three years to flower.

Particularly desirable Hyacinth cultivars can be propagated by making a number of cuts in the bulb, which promotes the development of new bulblets. Turn the Hyacinth bulb upside down, and cut away the basal plate of the bulb using a sharp knife. Then make a series of V-shaped cuts around the edge of the bulb where the basal plate was removed. Leave the bulb exposed to the air for a few days to allow it to form a protective callus. Finally bury he bulb upside down in moist, sand and new bulblets will grow from the wounds made in the base of the Hyacinth bulb.

Types of Hyacinth

Hyacinthus orientalis is the Dutch or Common Hyacinth, flowering in April-May. Good cultivars are :-

Whites -- 'L'Innocence'; 'White Pearl'; 'Carnegie'.

Reds    -- 'Jan Bos' (rich crimson-red); 'Amsterdam' (cerise-                         red); 'La Victoire' (magenta).

Pinks    -- 'Pink Pearl' (fuchsia-pink); 'Anna Marie' ( bright                         pink); 'Lady Derby' (shell-pink); 'Marconi' (deep                         rose-pink).

Yellows -- 'Yellow Hammer' (creamy yellow); 'City of Haarlem',                          (primrose-yellow).

Blues    -- 'Ostara' (dark pansy-blue); 'Delft Blue' (light                          porcelain blue); 'Blue Giant' (pale-blue);                          'Bismarck' (porcelain blue); 'Blue Jacket' (dark                          blue).

Violets  -- 'Amethyst' (lilac-violet); 'Violet Pearl' (purple-violet).

Orange -- 'Gipsy Queen' (dark salmon and apricot).

The Roman Hyacinth, Hyacinthus orientalis albulus, has earlier flowers that are not so tightly packed together. In white, pink and purple. Flowering in March-April. This species strain is native to southern France.

The Summer Hyacinth (Hyacinthus candicans) is really Galtonia candicans. Hyacinthus azureus is now proper to Muscari azureum (a grape hyacinth). Hyacinthus amethystinus is now known as Brimeura amethystina. It flowers in spring with loose, graceful spikes of vivid amethyst flowers. It should be planted in groups of at least one hundred for best effect.

There is more information on Hyacinths available. Please check out the links on the left at the top of the page. Click here for more Hyacinth Information.

Back to top of page

---

If you want to send flowers, roses, sympathy flowers or a gift basket please click on one of the links below to transfer to the appropriate page.

Or make your loved one feel over the moon with elegant jewelry.

For more than 40 years, PalmBeach Jewelry has provided their loyal customers a unique and extensive collection of quality jewelry and designer fragrances at discount prices. Browse the assortment of over 6,500 items - all at savings up to 85%!

Free shipping is always available on all merchandise orders. Buy with confidence - 90 day satisfaction guarantee. Satisfying customers since 1958, PalmBeach is listed as one of Internet Retailer magazines Top 500 web sites, HackerSafe and Verisign secure. Shoppers love the savings and convenience!

Please click on the image below for more details.

      

Copyright AA-Florist.com