Hyacinth is a reliable plant that will give you aromatic flowers for several years, but sometimes there are unfortunate problems. Bulbs planted outdoors after forcing them indoors usually do not bloom for an entire year until they have gone through another period of winter cooling. Since hyacinths are one of the first flowers, they are most beautiful at the front of a perennial garden, near the front door, along a walkway or in mixed borders. These beauties are also a great choice for pots and planters. Hyacinths also make wonderful cut flowers and look gorgeous in bouquets. Since flowers are famous for their fragrance, you can bring the sweet scent of spring inside! The only benefit of hyacinth toxicity is that common garden pests like squirrels and marmots are often not so tempted to eat your hyacinth bulbs! Keep the soil moist while the bulbs grow and take root, but rejuvenate watering when flowering begins, especially if you plan to replant the bulbs outdoors. Note: On this page, for simplicity, we will refer to both hyacinthus and muscari plants as “hyacinths”! First, you need to leave your hyacinth flowers on the plant to form pods. These pods ripen from green to brown when they form small black seeds inside. The pods dry and split; You can catch the seeds by placing a white sheet under the plant or wrapping tights around the flowers themselves. After flowering, let the foliage pass into spring and summer until it dies again. Then remove it, dig up the hyacinths and store them in a cool, dry place until they are replanted in the fall. However, hyacinths grown indoors are unlikely to bloom again as successfully as in their first season, so many gardeners prefer to throw them away after flowering and choose fresh bulbs each autumn.

Whether you`re planting hyacinths for yourself or as an adorable gift for someone special, their magical colors, shapes, and scents will delight your eyes and lift your spirits this winter. Now that you`ve learned about indoor hyacinth care, explore our fabulous collection of hyacinths and choose your favorites! If you repot hyacinth inside to force early flowering, you will either need to buy pre-cooled bulbs or pre-cool them yourself in a refrigerator or other cold place. They can then be embedded in gravel or placed in onion forced jars until they bloom. After flowering, hyacinth bulbs are usually thrown inside. But they are not a good choice for indoor cultivation if you have pets that nibble leaves or dig up onions. Victorians revered hyacinths for their sweet, persistent fragrance and carefully massaged them into low beds planted in rows of one colour each. In general, hyacinths symbolize playfulness, sport and recklessness, although the meanings depend on the color. Learn more about the importance of flowers. This helpful video explains what you can do with your indoor hyacinths after they bloom: The key to successfully growing hyacinth plants indoors is to provide moisture without soaking the bulbs, which leads to rot. The bulbs contain many stored nutrients for the leaves and flowers, making fertilizer superfluous. Compost potting soil or gravel should not remain wet and never be soaked.

Press a finger 1 inch below the surface to check that the growing medium is dry at this depth before watering lightly and avoiding plant leaves. Adding liquid houseplant fertilizer to water at the dilution indicated on the label may extend flowering time. But be aware that most gardeners find it necessary to replant (or raise and divide) hyacinths every two or three years to make them bloom solidly. Like many hybrid bulbs, hyacinths lose their strength quite quickly. Unfortunately, hyacinth bulbs have a short lifespan and will probably only last three or four years. Many people treat them like one-year-olds and replace them every year due to decline. It is also a normal method of growing in warm winter areas for gardeners who do not want to dig up and cool the bulbs. To grow hyacinths indoors, the bulbs must be refrigerated for 6 to 10 weeks in a cold place such as a refrigerator, garage or basement.

Some hyacinths have been pre-cooled and you can plant them immediately. Plant hyacinths in autumn; Choose ash containers so that the tops of the bulbs point about 1 inch above the soil surface. Water lightly and store in a dark place for 8 to 10 weeks until the shoots reach about 2 inches tall. Then move to a cool and bright place, where the flowers will soon appear. Although hyacinths can be propagated from seed, it can take several years before the seed creates a bulb and feeds the bulb into a large structure that produces a flowering plant. Grow in loose, moderately fertile soil that drains well. Avoid low areas where water accumulates; Hyacinths rot in moist soil! Before planting, loosen the soil and work in 2 to 4 inches of compost or bone meal for fertility. When they`re ready, Gaumond says you should plant the bulbs in a pot of drainage holes filled with a well-drained, universal, pH-neutral soil base. “The bulbs should only be covered by the top layer of soil and then watered lightly to moisten the soil,” says Gaumond. Next, cover the potted hyacinths with a black garbage bag to protect them from any light and place the pots in a cool, dark place (Gaumond recommends a basement or shed). Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) and grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) resemble similar plants, but are different species.

Hyacinth has large thorny petals, while grape hyacinth with bell-shaped flowers is smaller. Grape hyacinths are often naturalized in lawns or planted in large galleries – which is not a common method for standard hyacinths. Grape hyacinths are dark purple-blue without the wide color palette available with standard hyacinths. It is possible to force hyacinth bulbs inside at early flowering. Simply plant an onion in a container filled with well-draining potting soil and make sure the container also has drainage holes. The tip of the onion should be just above the bottom line. Place the container in a dark place that remains between 33 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it sit there for at least 10 weeks while the roots develop. Green shoots also begin to grow.

Give your plant a good houseplant fertilizer to build even more of that energy. However, do not overwater. Hyacinth bulbs are prone to onion rot if overwatered. Yes, hyacinth bulbs are toxic to pets. Many spring flowers, such as hyacinths and daffodils, contain a compound that can cause stomach and respiratory problems, as well as skin irritation. This substance – calcium oxalate – is more concentrated in the bulbs, but is also found in the foliage and flowers of hyacinth. Keep hyacinths out of reach of pets and curious children and wear gloves when handling hyacinth bulbs for long periods of time. For the strongest and deepest fragrance, hyacinths grow in large groups.

Hyacinth flowers also blend well with other spring-flowering bulbs as they come in many colors and sizes. Their thorny flower stems form a beautiful counterpoint to cup-shaped tulips and ruffled daffodils. If you`re looking for a great resource to learn all about hyacinths, try this from Gardener`s World. Known for their fragrant flowers and bulbous bell shape, hyacinths are beautiful plants, whether grown in your garden or displayed on your windowsill. Part of the lily family, these beauties are spring-flowering perennials that can dazzle in your garden for years. If you are an amateur gardener or already have a green thumb, taking care of these stunners is a rewarding experience. Rick Canale, a third-generation florist at Exotic Flowers in Boston, says hyacinths are a great plant for everyone because they bring them into your space. “You can enjoy the scent and a spectrum of colors, as well as a large flower that you can cut for your vases,” he says. In advance, we asked experts for their advice on how to successfully grow hyacinths, whether you want to plant them indoors or outdoors. Hyacinths love full sun in partial shade.

The goal is to give the plants at least six to eight hours of sunlight a day. As with all spring bulbs, hyacinths germinate, bloom, and begin to fade before the deciduous trees die out completely, so you don`t have to worry about too much shade from nearby trees. The easiest way to feed new bulbs is to throw onion food into the hole at the time of planting. There are many fertilizers for feeding onions – 10-10-10 is recommended – or you can use ordinary bone meal. Feed the bulbs only a handful when planting, and again in the spring, when new growth first appears, scraping onion food into the nearby soil and watering well. Follow the instructions on the product label for the quantity to use. In colder areas (USDA zones 2 and 3), applying a thick layer of mulch to the onion bed can allow hyacinth bulbs to survive cold winters. You can also position the bulbs an inch or two lower at planting time to insulate them. Winter protection should not be required in zones 4 to 8.

However, if your hyacinths are in containers outside, cover them or move them to a sheltered place to prevent the containers from accumulating too much moisture and the bulbs from rotting. Few plant diseases affect hyacinths, but bulbs can rot if planted in dense soil that does not drain well. Hyacinth plants rarely suffer from pests or diseases, and indoor cultivation is no exception. Some common pests of houseplants that could attack them are mealybugs, which are white, cotton or waxy insects; scales, which are small insects such as limpet shells; and fungal mosquitoes, which are tiny flies. Mealybugs and scales are quite easy to spot on hyacinth leaves. If you see any, remove them with your fingers. Fungal midges thrive in moist organic matter, so reduce watering when you see these small flies. Overwatering can also cause root rot.

The leaves and stems of hyacinth plants wither and the plant dies.