If you’d asked me at 7 years old what my favorite flower was, there would be no hesitation. The intoxicating fragrance of hyacinth captivated me early in life. Sitting on the steps at the front of the church on Easter Sunday, there were pretty pansies and lovely lilies. But a hyacinth was the flower I looked forward to taking home with me.
Ask me now, and it’ll take me three hours to compare and come back to you with my top five. But hyacinths will always have my inner child. Their waxy blossoms in shades of lavender, rose, and white are sturdy and long-lasting. Their strong stems make them ideal for adding to a springtime centerpiece. But it is that perfume that sets them apart.
Late fall is a good time to plant your bulbs if you haven’t already done so. If the soil is already frozen, you can still put them in a raised bed or container. They are easy to force indoors, as well, making them an all-around easy choice. It’s hard to go wrong with any variety. They all smell wonderful. Here are a few of my favorite varieties to peruse and enjoy!
‘Miss Saigon’ Hyacinth Bulbs
Looking for a head-turner in your garden? Miss Saigon Hyacinth delivers fragrant, rich violet blooms that bring a burst of color to spring landscapes. These bulbs are a perfect choice for adding a bold yet elegant touch to your flower beds, borders, or containers.
‘Gipsy Queen’
‘Gipsy Queen’ is a beautifully fragrant hyacinth variety with a mass of coral-colored blossoms. Tightly packed on a sturdy eight-inch stem, there are whispers of pink and orange melded together when light passes through. The lance-shaped leaves are bright green.
This is a winner of the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Over time, they can colonize but will bloom less over the years. You can maximize blooming and encourage a second flush by cutting the stalk as soon as the flowers are spent.
‘Miss Saigon’
Another winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, ‘Miss Saigon’ gets its name from the stunning musical production. This extra fragrant hyacinth variety blooms in mid-spring for two to three weeks. They like full sun, though they will tolerate partial shade.
‘Miss Saigon’ has bold, purple, star-shaped flowers with slightly paler margins. This gives it a lot of dimension, making it shine in the garden. You’ll want to bring them indoors, though, to keep them closer so you can enjoy their perfume.
‘Apricot Passion’
‘Apricot Passion’ is a delicate variety with flowers that are less dense than some others. When fully opened, they touch, but the green stem is visible in the center. This gives them a lacy appearance.
The flowers are a soft, powdery shade of apricot, almost peaches and cream. Sometimes, a hint of pink mingles with the apricot, and the margins are paler for that multi-dimensional look. This hyacinth variety also has an excellent fragrance and looks wonderful in a pot by the entrance, where it can greet your guests.
‘Blue Jacket’
The color blue is rare in flowers and in nature as a whole. It’s also often found to be the most common favorite color in the world. So, it’s not surprising that ‘Blue Jacket’ is one of the most popular hyacinth varieties. It’s also won the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
‘Blue Jacket’ has densely flowered spikes and a strong fragrance. The blossoms are cobalt stars with pale blue margins. Plant these near an outdoor seating area where you can sit and enjoy their sweet scent and stunning floral display.
‘City of Haarlem’
‘City of Haarlem’ is a cheerful, soft yellow, heirloom variety. It’s good for forcing, which is growing indoors in water. Another RHS winner of the Award of Garden Merit, it’s beautiful and highly fragrant.
Hyacinths like loose and fertile soil. Compacted soil can stunt the growth of their roots, so loosen the soil in the area when planting your bulbs. Plant your bulbs in groups of odd numbers like five or nine, as this gives the more natural appearance of colonizing bulbs.
‘Delft Blue’
Another beautiful blue variety, ‘Delft Blue,’ gets its name from the famous pottery. Its densely clustered flowers are on the larger side compared to most. The color is a bold shade of blue-violet, close to indigo, with a lighter margin.
I promise that not all hyacinths are Award of Garden Merit winners. But, they do give that award to the most deserving specimens, so many of them are noteworthy. This one is as well. Its flowers are extremely fragrant, great for the flower bed or cutting garden.
‘Jan Bos’
Someone at the RHS really loves hyacinths, and there are so many award winners it’s hard to keep up with them. ‘Jan Bos’ is the first dark pink cultivar on the list, and it’s a gorgeous one. Dark, reddish-pink flowers form dense clusters on tall spikes. This hyacinth variety is also highly fragrant.
‘Jan Bos’ has nice, stiff stems that won’t flop over without support. As long as they get at least six hours of exposure, they will stand up nicely. September and November are the best months for planting your bulbs, though you can plant them any time in warmer climates.
‘Fondant’
With a name like fondant, this variety is as sweet as sugar and twice as lovely. The large flower clusters are powder pink with a darker stripe down the center of every petal. The dark streak highlights the star shape of each blossom.
‘Fondant’ is the perfect pink for your spring garden. As with most bulbs, it’s important to plant these in well-drained soil. Soil that remains soggy will rot your bulbs and leave you with few flowers. The soil should stay moist but not soggy throughout the season.
‘Aiolos’
‘Aiolos’ is a fragrant pure white hyacinth variety. Its pristine blooms look like small, shining stars against light green stems and lanceolate leaves. White goes with everything, so plant these with another favorite as an accent. In a drift, they are wonderful alone in a frilly white expanse.
Because of their structure and neat foliage, I like to grow hyacinths in containers. That way, I can bring them indoors to perfume my living room and then back out to get extra exposure. As cut flowers, they last a long time, which is a great characteristic for the cutting garden.
Double-petaled hyacinths were rare until recently, when they became popular in hybridization. Each individual floret on these spikes is double-petaled, adding more density and interest to these already striking plants.
‘Royal Navy’ isn’t true navy blue, but it does have deep blue accents. The flowers are periwinkle with a darker stripe in the center of each petal. The blooms border on violet more than blue, but they are wonderful nonetheless. Exercise caution when dealing with hyacinth bulbs. They can cause skin irritation, and they are poisonous to pets and people.
‘Purple Sensation’
‘Purple Sensation’ is a marvel of great breeding. The flower clusters are extra-large and a vivid, glowing shade of magenta. The stars in the center are darker than the margins of each back curling petal. Plant these with daffodils for a cheerful combination.
Centuries of breeding hyacinths have created varieties with bigger, bolder, and more fragrant flowers. The hybrids are unlike many other flowers in that they don’t compromise fragrance for aesthetic purposes.
‘Eros’
Double hyacinths, recognized as genetically abnormal, were often discarded during the Victorian Era. These cast-offs didn’t fit the formality of the times, and they faded into obscurity. In recent years, however, these extra-special hyacinths are making a comeback.
‘Eros’ is fully double-petaled and then some. The densely petaled blooms are so fluffy and fabulous that it’s difficult to imagine someone passing them over. The masses of petals are candy-striped in dark and pale pink.
‘Woodstock’
‘Woodstock’ is well known and noteworthy for its rich, plum-colored blossoms. The flowers are darker than most varieties, especially for a warm purple shade. They border on magenta, and you could assign that color to the margins, but the center of the petals is much deeper.
This variety mixes well with other spring bulbs, as it is unique and rich in color. It looks great with pale blue, white, and yellow. For its saturated color, it sacrifices none of its perfume; it is highly fragranced.
