garden withindoors

17-1-2025

Snow Crystal hyacinth bulblets

turning the hyacinth upside down, this is the view of the bulblets, for them to grow they need some of the basal plate of the bulb still attached so I carefully removed them

3 I managed to retain some of the roots on the basal plate but one bulblet just fell off without any roots

I planted the bulblets in pots of compost

16-1-2025  Wedgwood hedgehog with crocus bulbs just blooming

comparison of Tye-shape hyacinth vases, middle cobalt blue with very thin rim is a GP Tye hyacinth vase

Snow Crystal hyacinths

Apricot Passion

Apricot Passion buds

Delft Blue hyacinth

11-1-2025

Snow Crystal hyacinth buds

Delft Blue hyacinth

Purple Sensation hyacinth buds

Jan Bos hyacinth

these amaryllis flowers were wilted and I was going to move the bulb when on closer examination I saw a bud emerging between leaves

close-up of that bud

fat hyacinth buds, mostly Apricot Passion

10-1-2025 this one seems to be getting better and better, the colour of the buds is exquisite

the Purple Sensation hyacinths are variable, these two do not look good

these two Purple Sensation hyacinths look ok aside from that leaf at the front

I was going to dispose of this wilting hyacinth when I noticed the fresh florets and on further investigation saw it was an additional flower spike

I cut off the wilted stem and am enjoying the fresh flower stem

this amaryllis was outside (had bloomed in June) but I brought it inside in case it decided to bloom again and it sprouted a new bud

4-1-2025

Delft Blue hyacinths

Woodstock double-stemmed hyacinth

Snow Crystal hyacinths

I use these red storage boxes to carry the hyacinth vases to and from the garage, of course, Scarecrow had to get in one, as cats do

a double-stemmed hyacinth

I cut off the wilting flower stem

some promising Snow Crystal buds

Purple Sensation hyacinths, flowering but brown bits on the leaves and flowers

It's time to review the remaining hyacinths. Although some of these weren't that developed I decided they could come out of the dark into the light.

These were still in the dark with no significant stems appearing.

I turned the bulbs over to see what was happening with them. Only 1 had any roots and even those were not significant.

more hyacinths not growing

the bases of those bulbs

although that bulb on the right has some roots, it's rotten in part

more bulbs not growing

the bases of 2 of the bulbs showing they're rotten

Delft Blue hyacinths

some that did not bloom properly

Delft Blue (I am assuming, came in a multi-pack of un-named varieties from Sainsbury's)

unfortunately I did not note the variety of this pink hyacinth (I have a spreadsheet of my forcing details but sometimes I miss noting everything - I try to do better each year!)

an amaryllis I had outside which I brought inside to see if it might spring to life and it has, I see a stem with a fat bud emerging

I cut the spent flowers off this amaryllis and then noticed this new bud emerging

established amaryllis in comparison with the one recently brought inside

hyacinth bulb bowl out of the dark, shows how variable forcing hyacinths are: 2 bulbs have fat buds, 2 bulbs with small shoots, 1 rotten bulb without roots or stem (see next photo)

hyacinth from centre of the bulb bowl above

amaryllis in comparison with the smaller bulbs: hyacinths and crocus

Jan Bos hyacinths

Woodstock hyacinths

I usually use 1 white variety of hyacinth and this year I tried Snow Crystal for the first time (I think it's new).  They are wildly variable. 5 of the 10 bulbs have no roots at all, 5 have roots varying from "some" to "reasonable" to "lots and lots" (according to my notes). One is in bloom. One has more well-developed bulblets than I've ever seen on one bulb.

These two photos are all 10 of my Snow Crystal hyacinths.

Tye uranium vases with Snow Crystal hyacinth bulbs

the bulges under the bulb's paper covering which prompted me to remove the papery covering.

when I removed the papery covering I saw 4 bulblets, 2 of which are multi-stemmed

the amaryllis are in bloom with huge flowers

next 16 vases out of the dark

the hyacinth vases out of the dark previously

1-12-2024

I always have a cat supervising. This time Scarecrow.

next 20 vases out of the dark

amaryllis growing tall with multiple buds

24-11-2024 Next 5 vases out of the dark, note how yellow they are in contrast to the 2nd photo of the vases that have been out a week and have greened up; all so far are Scarlet Pearl and Jan Bos hyacinth varieties. Jan Bos is an early one I know but I have not grown Scarlet Pearl before but so far, it's early.

I brought the crocus out of the dark (19-11-2024), both vases and the Wedgwood hedgehog. The stems are quite fat so I assume buds are out of the bulb. I've had hit and miss results with crocus. I'll just have to see how they do. I'll top up the water in the vases. I find crocus bulbs need to touch the water unlike hyacinth bulbs which must not touch the water.

I put some muscari in those small jars with pebbles a few weeks ago. I put them outside this week, not realising we'd have such cold freezing weather. One broke.

First hyacinths out of the dark. The bulge of the flower needs to be out of the bulb. I think these look well on the way. Initially the stems are quite yellow as they've been in the dark but after a few days in the light they will green up. They all seem to have lots of roots.

the amaryllis in the clear vase after I sorted the roots 

the bulb with the initial roots, some of which start to rot in the water

amaryllis bulb with some rotting roots

rotted roots removed and fresh new ones can be seen)

I started the crocus forcing, putting a crocus bulb in each vase, filling them with water, but unlike the hyacinth bulbs which must not sit in water, the crocus doesn't seem to start growing roots unless the water touches the bulb. As with the hyacinth vases, into the dark to be checked in a few weeks.

I find the muscari will not grow in a vase with water, unlike the hyacinth and crocus. They need to be on something like pebbles or compost. I've been collecting these little jars which I thought would be nice with some small bulbs. I put some pebbles in each and 1, 2 or 3 bulbs in each depending on how many fit, filled with water and into the dark. I can't remember if they like to be in water like crocus or out of water like hyacinths. I think they are touching the water. I'll check them in a few weeks.

I have a Wedgwood hedgehog I put crocus bulbs in.

most of the crocus bulbs have shoots

if they have a second shoot at the bottom or on the side I break it off as all the energy should go into the top shoot

I put a crocus bulb at each hole and filled the hedgehog with bulb fibre.

watered it and put it into the garage in the dark, I'll check it in a few weeks

16-9-2024

The first step in forcing hyacinths is buying bulbs. I got my bulb delivery from Peter Nyssen a couple days ago (ordered them in August) but there are bulbs in the garden centre if you didn't order mail order. This is the first time I'm forcing hyacinth bulbs in my new place so it's rather stressful. I no longer have my cellar but I do have a cabinet in my garage although not exactly sure how all the vases will fit in that. I updated my spreadsheet and printed it to note which hyacinth variety I am putting in each vase. I also had to clear off my patio table to work on.

I mostly buy mail order but I have some very small vases that need smaller bulbs, those 3 on the right (white and 2 clear), for example. I have found Sainsbury's bulbs are quite small and will do a count of how many I need and buy some. Since moving I'm not so close to a Sainsbury's so will need to make a special trip (I used to go all the time but it was only 5 mins away).

I started with Apricot Passion hyacinth bulbs (4 on the left) and Scarlet Pearl on the right. I've not used thoses varieties before. I like to try different hyacinths (both prepared and unprepared) and compare results.

Whenever I start my hyacinths, at least one cat comes and checks things out. I like to put white hyacinths in the green vases. This year I bought Snow Crystal, a new variety I've not tried before.

Those tall green vases have very large openings, so had to use Scarlet Pearl rather than Snow Crystal.

I filled each vase with water ensuring the bulb did not touch the water and put them in the garage. I will check them in a few weeks. When the bulge of the flower is out of the bulb and the stem is bulging, it will be time to bring them out into the light.

In addition to the Apricot Passion, Snow Crystal and Scarlet Pearl hyacinths, I have prepared Delft Blue ("the" forcing variety), prepared Jan Bos and prepared Woodstock.

17-9-2024 continuing the forcing, I brought out all the tall hand-blown hyacinth vases - my favourite, I usually use Delft Blue hyacinths in those

pair of black Prattware vases at the back, they have larger openings so I need to check all the bulbs and see which are largest

I have 3 glassroots (designed by Margaret Howell) hyacinth vases, on the left, the purple one is not marked on the base as the others are but so so similar, I have no doubt they are the same producer

Byzanta Ware hyacinth vases, recently found the orange one on ebay, curious to know how many different designs / colours were produced but never found any information about them

terracotta hyacinth vases, Prattware winged griffin on the left

3 Broste Copenhagen jack-in-the-pulpit hyacinth vases

I love cobalt blue glass, both antique and more modern such as the front left and right

mid-December 2023

I was not able to start my hyacinths as usual this year but finally settled in my new place and opened my hyacinth bulbs and put 20 Delft Blue hyacinth bulbs in hyacinth vases. It's extremely late to do this but thought I'd give it a try.

17-1-2024 the hyacinths did well, considering how late they were started

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Dec 2023 The remaining 80 bulbs I was not able to force, I planted out, also quite late for bulb planting but it hasn't been as cold as it might be so maybe they will establish .

In March 2024 they were in bloom

It's July and time to start thinking about forcing hyacinths for Christmas. I know it's early but it takes some planning.

one of my new vases I'm using this year for the first time

I ordered my bulbs yesterday. Looking back at my results from last year, I used 13 varieties. I'm keeping it simpler this year but buying more of a variety to get a proper range of results. I ordered:

Delft Blue, "the" hyacinth for forcing, generally reliable and good results

Blue Star, last year I had good results so buying more of these

Miss Saigon, I usually use these and get good results

City of Bradford, hasn't been available the last couple of years but seem to be now so ordered some, I really like them

Carnegie, haven't used these for years, not sure why but after indifferent results with Aiolos last year, I thought I'd go back to this for my white variety, I usually use one white hyacinth

Woodstock, didn't use this last year, can't remember why but trying it again, usually small as I recall but often great colour

another new vase I'm using this year for the first time

The bulbs won't be delivered until August / September so I have plenty of time to get my vases organised.