end of January 2018

The hyacinths seem to be blooming in waves and this wave is exquisite. The amaryllis has a new bud as well. I cut off the 2 stems with wilted flowers so all the amaryllis bulb's energy will go to this new flower and not making seeds.

There is some overlap with the vases and bowl in these photos but I wanted to include my ginger cat, Victor, who's so often sitting on that chair - and it's a beautiful sunny day.

Blue Jacket has been a successful hyacinth this year. It has a stripe on the petals. Not that long ago, two of the bulbs in this bowl weren't blooming at all but they're catching up - at least to all be in bloom, to a certain extent, at the same time.

Pacific Ocean flowers are a bit small - but that purple-black colour is intense. Most have finished already and the smell is nothing special so it's all about the colour with this one.

here it is in comparison to other varieties, left to right, Delft Blue, Miss Saigon, Delft Blue, Pacific Ocean, Sainsbury's unnamed

Delft Blue is a great performer. This is one of my best flowers this year.

not quite as large, but still beautiful

As noted already, I love the fat hyacinth buds, bursting open, with colour and scent. I don't know when I first smelled a hyacinth or where they were but I know it was when I was a child and the smell takes me back there and it means SPRING. Sadly, I have no photos of my mother's garden from that time but sure it had hyacinths.