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a second hyacinth in bloom, a week before Christmas so will definitely have some in bloom on Christmas day

the scent of this one is pure spring

my first hyacinth is in bloom (December 18th)

Most of these are starting to show their pink colour. In my experience pink hyacinths are usually the first in bloom.

the amaryllis is getting tall; I hope that low vase will keep it from falling over as they often do

I think the hyacinths I took out of the dark the last few days may be my final ones out before Christmas. The shoots are a bit anemic as they've been in the dark but they green up after a few days in the light.

these came out of the dark a couple weeks ago and have really greened up

of the ones just out of the dark, the two on the right don't have very good roots but they're still growing

I don't know why some hyacinth bulbs just don't get going with roots

I just took this hyacinth out from the dark today (Dec 6th). It shows an ideal shape for the stem of the hyacinth when it is ready to come out of the dark. The bulge of the flower has clearly grown up out of the bulb.

The hyacinths need to be checked to see if they are ready to come out of the dark. The bulge of the flower needs to have moved out of the bulb. These seem to be ready. I'm surprised I have so many (18) ready to come into the light when they were started so late.

Even though the general length of time to keep the hyacinths in the dark initially is 12 weeks, it could be less. Check the bulbs and go by how they look. Of those first 18 out of the dark, 3 have been in the dark for 7 weeks, 9 have been in the dark for 8 weeks and 4 for 9 weeks.

Of the first 18, 7 are Anne Marie (usually the first in bloom), 5 Pacific Ocean (I haven't used these before but seem to be early), 2 Delft Blue, 2 Sainsburys, 1 Splendid Cornelia and 1 Caribbean Dream.

the hyacinth flower can be seen between the leaves of the emerging stem, the others will be similar even if the flower is not visible, the shape of the stem shows the bulge of the flower

these hyacinths are not ready to come out of the dark yet

these hyacinths are not ready to come out of the dark yet, although the one front right is on the edge

As well as checking the hyacinth bulbs to see if they should be taken into the light, they should be checked for water levels but I find they generally don't need topping up. The vase below is typical. The bulb has acted like a plug to prevent the water evaporating

the more open vases have evaporation, I topped up the square vase on the left which had gone down to half full, it also shows the different growth rates of different bulbs and the problems of containers with more than 1 bulb, some bulbs are ready, some are not

I've brought those 18 hyacinth vases into the house. If I put many more on this windowsill Victor (or any of the other cats) won't have room to sit on it. The hyacinths really shouldn't be by a radiator but I have limited space.

this amaryllis bulb has two fat flower stems (on either side of the leaves in the centre) emerging after only 2 weeks

a week later

I saw Sainsbury's had a new hyacinth vase for sale so had to get a closer look. It's a little late to be starting hyacinth bulbs (14-11-2017) but I had to see this new product.

I didn't notice the colour when it was inside the box - it's not very nice. I thought it would be quite basic and it is. Convenience is the main thing going for it.

I filled it with water to just under the bulb and put it in the cellar with the rest of my hyacinth vases.

yes, there are still hyacinth bulbs at the garden centre, this was my last vase needing a bulb

while at the garden centre I saw they have some huge amaryllis bulbs and made an impulse purchase, it is so large I think it's too large for this amaryllis vase

I was away for a week in October and didn't have time to finish all my bulbs - quite unlike me as I usually do them immediately in September to increase my chances of Christmas flowers but this year is a bit later. Going to Korea for my son's wedding took priority. I have 10 hyacinth bulbs left.

a quick look in the boxes in the cellar and I have 9 vases left to use

I forgot that pickle jar, that will take that last bulb

I do have at least 1 more vase but no more bulbs. If I have time I'll pop down to the garden centre and see if they have any more bulbs. I know Sainsburys is out of stock.

Of course, when I was in Korea I wanted to see if they sold hyacinth bulbs. Some spent dried bulbs in a basket outside this flower shop/cafe was the closest I could find. At one point they had hyacinth bulbs in Seoul - intrigued to find out more.

close-up of one of those baskets at the front

I think, as my mother-in-law (who started me off on forcing hyacinth bulbs in vases) would say, I think I've broken the back of it. (She was in the navy during the war and still used some naval expressions.) I started off with about 150 bulbs and am now down to about 25. I was going to plant some of those Caribbean Dream hyacinths in the garden for a comparison but realised I needed some very large bulbs: in those black Prattware vases, the "unofficial" quilted pronged, jar below, so used most of them.

that little tin above shows the hyacinth roots pushing the bulb right out, I've tried to add a little more material around it, I don't know any other solution for this which happens with a few bulbs every year, depending on how I planted them

this jar needs a large bulb

I've never used it before; will see how it works

I meant to take a photo of all the bulb bowls before I put them in the cellar (but forgot).

I'm trying to get a few vases ready each day with the remaining bulbs. Pacific Ocean on the left, Blue Jacket on the right. Seeing them next to each other they are distinct but if there were a number of bulbs mixed up I couldn't tell them apart.

these bulbs don't look that great, going to save them for potting up in a container

these are some of my favourite vases, they just happened to get to the back of the box, usually I'd do these first

Even though this amaryllis has been in the vase below on my windowsill for months, I only noticed how green it was the other day, I lifted it out of the vase, which was completely dry, to see dry roots. Amaryllis, like hyacinths, want to grow no matter what, even without water.

I filled up the vase with water, removed the dried leaves and replaced the bulb in it. I think it might bloom again.

I just received my last bulb delivery. Apparently the weather has been quite bad for the new bulbs so there's been a delay in dispatch. I've had a few substitutes (sadly no City of Bradford available) and trying a new variety so curious to see how they (Pink Elephant and Pacific Ocean) perform. Unlike previous tries with new varieties I'm going to plant half outside so I can properly judge in case they don't like growing in a vase on water alone.

feeling a bit overwhelmed so starting them in small batches

Some of the bulbs I started 2 weeks ago have strong roots. Hyacinths are so great to force as they want to grow and are so unfussy about doing so.

I didn't think my first post of the forcing year would be using Sainsbury's bulbs but here goes.

You can use hyacinth vases (4 on the right) or any vase that will hold the bulb above water, or a container with pebbles (I'm also using crushed shell mulch) holding the bulb above water or you can use bulb fibre or really any kind of compost. The good news is that the Sainsbury's bulbs are only 25p each.

I've put a bulb in each vase and as many as I could squeeze into the square vase with pebbles. It's always fun to use as many bulbs as you can fit into whatever container you are using. I don't think the vanilla bottle really works now that I see how it looks. I can use that with a crocus bulb in compost. The pickle jar actually has too large an opening to use with these small bulbs. I'll save that until I get some larger bulbs. The jam jars were obviously free. Many of the vases were 99p or less. You don't need to spend much to force hyacinths.

I pushed the boat out with this clear Victorian vase with trailing and applied feet, spending £4.75.  I thought it would hold a small bulb - indeed it does.

fill each vase with water to just under the bulb; the bulb must not sit in water - it will rot

this bulb is split so putting it in this opaque vase will hide that

Then all the vases and pots go into a cool dark place. I use my cellar but it's pretty much the ambient temperature outside, today 19°. Just put them wherever you can in the coolest darkest place you have. I think the dark is more important than the temperature. Leave them for about 12 weeks, until the bulge of the flower is out of the bulb (I will post more pics). The vases shouldn't need topping up with water but if you're using any of the more open containers, eg with pebbles, water will evaporate and you'll need to top it up.

The final step, for me, is to update my spreadsheet, with the date I started the bulb in which vase and which variety, in this case, they are unnamed but I do note the source.

a few days later and the first roots have appeared

A week later and I now have one of my bulb deliveries so can press on with some of the other vases, for convenience I just took the squat vases from the next box