Last Updated on April 9, 2024 by Real Men Sow
The delightful spring bulbs of Hyacinths can be enjoyed as fragrant and easy-to-grow. You can find hyacinths in many colors, including traditional purple and pink flowers as well as white and mauve. For a spring display, plant hyacinths in the garden border or in pots to add a splash of colour closer to the house. Indoor Christmas displays can be made by forcing hyacinths.
How Deep Should You Grow Hyacinths
Plant hyacinths between September and November in moist, well-drained soil. Hyacinth bulbs should be planted 10 cm deep and 8 cm apart. When the soil is dry, water. For pot displays, plant hyacinth bulbs more shallowly and closer together as long as they are not touching.
Where To Grow Hyacinth Plant
Along with grape hyacinths and tulips, hyacinths look great at the front of spring borders. They are small and can be displayed in spring pots due to their compact size, which is between 5-30 cm tall. Grow hyacinths indoors in bright, sunny areas.
Are Hyacinths Toxic?
It is known that hyacinths plants be toxic and cause skin irritation. So, make sure you wear gloves whenever you plant hyacinth bulbs.
Growing Outdoor Hyacinths:
- The bulbs should be planted in autumn in a sunny location in moist, well-drained soil.
- Make sure to remove weeds from the soil and dig to reduce compaction, if needed. Next, add organic matter like compost or animal manure.
- The bulbs should be planted at a depth of approximately 10 cm and spaced 8 cm apart.
- Cover the soil with soil and firm up around it. If the soil is dry, water it.
Growing Hyacinths In Pots:
- Place hyacinths about 5cm apart in peat-free, multipurpose compost
- Use a loam-based soil such as John Innes No. 2. Plant the bulbs farther apart than if you were planting them in the ground.
- To keep your display looking great, apply slow-release fertilizer every year.
How To Plant Hyacinths Indoors
The Christmas display of Hyacinths is spectacular and fragrant. You can get the best results by purchasing heat-treated or ‘prepared’ bulbs. These bulbs don’t require to be forced as often to encourage early blooms. Indoor hyacinths can be planted as deep as they would in pots or the ground.
Place the bulbs on a layer of compost 5 cm thick so that they are close together, but not touching. So that the bulb’s top is visible, add compost to their area. To moisten the compost, water lightly. Cover them with a cloth and let them cool in a dark place for 10 weeks. Once shoots begin to appear, move them into a sunny spot and allow them to bloom.
Planting Hyacinths For Christmas
Plant Christmas hyacinths 13 weeks before the start of the season, in the last week September. To ensure Christmas blooms you should plant three batches at weekly intervals. This will ensure that if one batch is lost, there are two others waiting to flower.
You will need to cover the hyacinths for a time in order to ‘force’ them into flowering. For up to 10 weeks, you can cover them with a blanket, straw, or thick newspaper. Forced bulbs will need to be stored in a garage or shed for at least six weeks. If the compost is dry, give them another light watering.
Are hyacinths indoor or outdoor plants?
Hyacinths make a great indoor plant. After the shoots are fully grown, bring your Hyacinths inside to a bright and cool place such as a window sill. They can easily grow too fast and tipple over if they are placed near heat sources like a radiator. You can water them as often as you like, usually when the compost feels dry. Your hyacinths will flower in three weeks once they are indoors.
How To Grow Hyacinths In A Glass Vase
Without the need for compost, you can grow hyacinths in glass jars and vases. This is only possible with heat-treated bulbs. Fill each hyacinth glass with water until the bulb’s base is just below the surface. Then, place the bulb. It should not touch the water but be just above the water. For roots to develop, place the glass in a dark and cool area (below 10°C) for six weeks. When the main green shoot has grown to about 7-10 cm tall, place the glass in full sunlight and watch the flower develop. To prevent the plant from growing towards the sun and falling over, turn the glass half-turn each day. As needed, add water to the glass.
How To Care For Hyacinth Plant
You can leave outdoor-grown hyacinths in the soil for next year. To stop the plant from wasting energy on seed production, take out the flowering stem after flowering. Allow the leaves to die completely. Then, feed the bulb with a potassium-rich fertilizer such as a tomato feed. Next year, the bulbs will need this fertilizer. You can plant indoor bulbs in the ground for natural flowering next year.
What to do with hyacinth bulb
Indoor displays of forced hyacinth bulbs won’t work well again. However, you can still plant them outdoors and they will continue to bloom for many years.
Propagation
The shoots will form naturally from Hyacinth bulbs that have been planted in the ground. The bulbs can be removed during winter and autumn by digging up, or they can grow larger naturally.
Problem-Solving
Growing hyacinths indoors can be difficult because they often flop over. This can be caused by too much heat and heavy flower stems. Your hyacinths should be kept out of direct heat and in cool, bright areas. This will ensure that they don’t overgrow and grow slowly.
The second and third years after they are planted, hyacinths might not be as floriferous in the garden. These are beautiful in their own right but you might want to encourage them to revert to their original flowering form. This can be done by ensuring that the leaves fall naturally after flowering, and giving the bulbs a good feed of a potash-rich fertilizer. It is best to replace bulbs that have been in place for more than two years.
Best Hyacinth Varieties To Grow
- ‘Delft Blue’ – This beautiful hyacinth variety is named after the Dutch city of Delft. It has inky blue flowers and is extremely fragrant. This is a good choice for growing outdoors under trees and shrubs.
- ‘Amethyst’ – This is a soft pink flower with a strong scent. It is beautiful when it is planted in a border with primroses and spring-flowering, pulmonarias.
- ‘Blue Tango’ – A double-flowered Hyacinth that’s closely related to the Royal Navy, but has soft blue flowers. It’s an excellent choice for indoor growing as the blooms emit a strong fragrance.
- ‘Carnegie’ – Has white flowers that are great indoors and outdoors. Ideal partners for planting are forget-me-nots, chionodoxa, and Muscari.
- ‘Woodstock’ – A striking variety with purple flowers which is a rare shade in hyacinths. It is especially attractive when it is planted with contrasting colors such as pale yellow daffodils or white anemones. It is richly fragrant.
- ‘Fondant’ – This sweetly aromatic hyacinth is a rose-pink flowering variety that produces tight clusters of pink flowers. To create soft colors, you can plant them with forget-me-nots and white or purple Tulips.
