garden withindoors

Quick update on the hyacinths upstairs today (6-1-2016), that Bloms Delft Blue in the Mary Gregory vase has turned out very well. (left to right, 44, 51, 71, 53, 96, 98)

I'm pleased with the White Pearl hyacinths, even though they are a bit short, on the left is an unprepared Peter Nyssen Miss Saigon.

(left to right 14, 30, 31, 3, 45)

Quick update on the hyacinths downstairs, today (4-1-2016) as everything is changing so quickly, moving along the windowsill from left to right:

1. left

2. middle

3. right

Yesterday, I've discovered a few problems today (3-1-2016). The green vase (back left) has a shrunken bulb that has sunk into the water and is rotting.

The rest of the Fairy White hyacinths are looking good.

any bulbs I have in pots with bulb fibre/compost have those small annoying black flying insects (fungus gnats) so I have banished these outside, the 2 pots on the left have a rotted hyacinth bud each so not much point in keeping them indoors, the pot on the right had 2 of the hyacinths in bloom almost spent

as well as that green vase that has a rotting bulb, the Prattware vase below right also has a bulb that is not big enough and it is falling into the water and rotting

None of the mail order bulbs is large enough to fit in some of these very wide mouth vases without possibly sinking in - bulbs do seem to shrink a bit as they grow. Back to the bins of bulbs from the garden centre! at least for the few vases needing large bulbs which I will now mark as such on my spreadsheet.

I bought these prepared White Pearl bulbs for some late vase purchases but bought too many so just had to put them in any pots to hand. They all seemed to have bulblets which I will try to grow on.

The Cirrus Hornsea bulb pot in the first pic above is also from the garden centre bins, although not sure which variety. Some of the vases upstairs also have those larger bulbs as these were recently purchased vases: Skyline on the left and Jan Bos on the right.

(I moved these vases to the radiator under the window just to get as much light as possible to photograph them on a pretty dismal January day but hyacinths should not be anywhere near a radiator!)

vases 53 (Peter Nyssen Delft Blue) and 71 (Peter Nyssen Miss Saigon)

(btw the numbers are just for my records to keep everything straight, I have labels on the bottom of each vase)

the bulbs in these vases (above and below) are not looking well at all but will await flowering

unprepared Peter Nyssen Miss Saigon on the left below looking pretty good and one of the garden centre White Pearl on the right (vases 14 and 45)

vase 46 and 45 again (not sure why I included that vase again) both with White Pearl

Peter Nyssen Miss Saigon on the left and deJager Delft Blue on the right below (vases 30 and 3)

selection of hyacinths on New Year's Eve, some are updates of recent photos

I'm not sure what variety these dark purple hyacinths are - certainly not one I ordered. They were supposed to be Sky Jacket but obviously are not but they are quite attractive; I love purple flowers.

I tend to use white hyacinths in green vases, this year Fairy White, flowers a bit small but pleasant enough. I think the small ones in the square vase are the ones from Sainsburys. They are surprisingly good.

this bulb bowl (above right and below) has "Sky Jacket" which I'm fairly sure has been a mistake from the supplier

vase 12 with J Parkers Delft Blue, great example

I had some rather small bulbs, from a multi-pack from Sainsburys which didn't even have varieties marked. This flower is small but a nice colour and well-formed. It's coping well with a small rose bowl filled with pebbles. More of those bulbs in the square vase above.

pink Stewart plastic hyacinth vase with Bloms Delft Blue

pronged vase with Bloms Delft Blue

vase 56 with Peter Nyssen Delft Blue

and some other half-brown flowers (left to right, 24. Bloms Delft Blue, 55. Peter Nyssen Delft Blue, 35. PN Delft Blue ,46. PN Delft Blue)

I'm not really sure why I pressed on with these. The bulbs look terrible and the buds not much better. Unprepared Miss Saigon from deJager.

vases in a prev pic below a few days later, they look good from this side

but not so good from this side (I just turned that vase around)

some Delft Blue hyacinths - that colour is fantastic

I think that pink hyacinth below is Splendid Cornelia but I'm not absolutely certain, could be Ann/Anne Marie/Mary or even Miss Saigon which I haven't grown before so not sure of its exact colour. I try to carefully note which variety of hyacinth bulb I put in each vase but get a bit haphazard with the pots.

I think those Fairy White hyacinths are looking good in the green vases

every container is pressed into service

Anne Marie hyacinths from 2 different suppliers, buds not looking very good

these are mostly Fairy White, except bulb bowl on the right is bulb bowl 5 with 4 JP Sky Jacket and 1 deJ Miss Saigon in the middle and blue vase on the left with PN Delft Blue which appears to be rotting and the water turning cloudy

bulb bowl with unprepared deJager Splendid Cornelia

bulb bowl with deJ Miss Saigon, bulbs still looking unpleasant but have fat buds that look ready to bloom soon

Christmas Day hyacinths are what bulb forcing is all about! Some recommend staggered starting to have a succession of blooms. I can't do that. I want hyacinths in bloom for Christmas so start them all at the same time to have as many flowers as possible. There are still bulbs in the cellar and some upstairs just in bud so I will still have a succesion of blooms.

Upstairs on the mantelpiece.

Downstairs on the kitchen windowsill.

this is my best hyacinth so far this year (2015/2016 forcing season)

an exquisite bud just opening (B. Delft Blue)

another exquisite bud just opening (JP. Delft Blue)

I also reviewed all the hyacinths in the living room:

(2 Tye and uranium vases deJ. Delft Blue)

seeing the vases like this I realize I need to top some of them up with water

the cranberry vases (both the glassroots and the squat round one) have very fat buds, I just hope they grow a bit higher

(cranberry vases B. Delft Blue)

I still don't know what makes them bend over, sometimes they straighten up, sometimes they don't

the hyacinth bulb in the amethyst vase in the middle is completely rotten, soft and smelly! it went straight out to the compost pile (PN Delft Blue)

another Sky Jacket hyacinth in the green vase below looking purple rather than pale blue

(JP Sky Jacket)

(all vases below, PN Delft Blue)

the flower in the middle below doesn't look very well

a close-up of it

and this is on the kitchen windowsill

(B. Delft Blue)

these are the hyacinths I have in bloom today (21-12-2015), I hope the flowers that seem "stuck" will grow up a bit more, like the Delft Blue on the left and the Splendid Cornelia (?) in the middle

these are the hyacinths that were in bloom the day before, the purple hyacinth on the left (and at the back) were supposed to be Sky Jacket, which I've used before so familiar with their pale blue colour, but these sure don't look like Sky Jacket to me

I wasn't meaning to take any more vases out of the cellar this week but while getting out the xmas decs I saw these and realised I just had to get them out into daylight

this Mary Gregory vase is one of my favourites, I think some Mary Gregory designs can look a little tacky but this one is quite tasteful and unlike some vases with this sort of applied feet, this has no chips at all and the hyacinth bulb I used for it - how fat and magnificent! (the cranberry vases below also have great fat buds)

my first hyacinth in bloom - and I don't even know which variety! I tried to note which variety in each vase but wasn't so careful with the pots

this is a better view of the split bulb from the following pic

some vases and pots recently out of the cellar, they will green up after being in the sun for a day or two

lots of roots showing through the vases

it's harder to assess whether crocus are ready to come out of the cellar as there's no bulge  of the flower to see on the stems, it's just guess-work whether they look tall enough

some of the crocus bulbs are quite mouldy and I discarded them

the following buds are starting to show some colour

the bulb in the silver vase on the right only had the bulblet growing without a main bud

I put that bulb in some soil and now there's a bud emerging, plus the bulblet still growing

I've sorted the vases by hyacinth variety (upstairs and downstairs), this is Anne Marie (downstairs):

they were supposed to be Sky Jacket (downstairs) but they don't look like it to me:

and 1 upstairs:

Fairy White (downstairs):

Delft Blue from 1 supplier (downstairs):

Delft Blue from another supplier (upstairs):

and (downstairs):

Delft Blue from another supplier (upstairs):

and (downstairs):

Delft Blue from another supplier (upstairs), the water in that vase on the right in front looks a little cloudy, the bulb and/or roots are a little rotten, refreshed the water and removed the rotten roots, hope it will still bloom ok

and (downstairs):

I've had to bring some of the vases upstairs, still experimenting with where to put them

I love this Victorian wirework plant stand but like the table above I worry about stability

the kitchen widowsill is still the main place for the vases in my house

more vases out of the cellar, when they first come out the buds are not very green but after a day or so in the sunlight they green up

the bulb in the tall blue vase below wasn't sitting quite right, I pulled the bulb out a little and discovered two bulblets growing into the water, just visible in the first pic (nb this one has been out of the cellar since the 1st or 2nd Dec, it's quite green)

I carefully broke off the bulblets with their roots attached. I planted them in a pot outside. Regardless of how careful I was, those long roots on the one on the right broke off but there were still those shorter ones so hope it will grow.

the windowsill is now full, I need to take some of the vases upstairs, I use a plastic box to carry them as I'm worried there might be an accident, one vase wouldn't even stay upright as it has a wobbly base, think the one on the front right below but I'll take a pic today (7-12-2015)

this is the wobbly vase

These are all my hyacinth bulbs out of the dark so far.

After the first lot shown below from December 1st, I took more out the next day. I want to show how the bulbs look when they are ready to come out of the dark. Maybe some of this is my instinct and experience but I like making things as easy  as possible so anyone can do it.

the green flower bud is emerging from the bulb

sometimes you can see the green flower but sometimes you need to go by the shape, eg the Tye vase, left below

when the stem is opening up (and the bulge of the flower has moved up), they are ready to come out of the dark

The bulbs in the front, left and right, show the green flower emerging from the bulbs. The downside of a container with more than one bulb, whether bulb fibre or pebbles and water (as on the left), the bulbs may develop at different rates, eg the one in the middle is noticeably smaller. I guess I tend to bring the container out into the light when some bulbs are ready and hope the less developed bulbs catch up.

December 1st is the traditional time to get bulbs out of the dark if they are to bloom by Christmas. They need to have the bulge of the flower out of the bulb. This was my first lot out of the cellar.

Some of the bulbs have differently shaped buds depending on which variety, eg back left looks like Delft Blue, the small one in the frilled vase back right looks distinctive, can't remember the variety right now but I can say not Delft Blue.  Will check my notes later today and update which varieties are in each vase.

the vase on the left is by GP Tye and marked as such on the bottom, the vase on the right is extremely similar but unmarked and I am certain it is NOT Tye, I have other similar examples which will be out of the cellar in coming weeks so I will be able to post pics of them soon

when these 2 vases are compared, they are extremely similar but I can see the vase behind on either side

I had to go in the cellar today to check the bulbs, topping them up with water, as required. These are the pots and bulb bowls. One of the bulbs at the bottom right is pushing right out of the pots. I put a bit of soil in around the roots, the best I could.

Some of the bulbs in the bulb bowls look quite poor. If I hadn't forced hyacinths successfully in them before, based on these, I probably wouldn't carry on with this method, and I wouldn't use some of these bulb suppliers.

bulb bowl 1, Splendid Cornelia, so far so good, all have stems sprouting and some roots

bulb bowl 2, 2 Splendid Cornelia and 2 Delft Blue (I think, at some point things get confused with so many bulbs to start)

bulbs from bulb bowl 2, not good at all

bulb bowl 3, Miss Saigon (look terrible: split and mouldy, only 2 bulbs have sprouts)

bulbs from bulb bowl 3, very few roots

bulb bowl 4, Miss Saigon, variable roots

bulb bowl 5, Sky Jacket and Miss Saigon in the middle, all have short roots except middle bulb has none

Some bulbs in the vases are doing better than others, this one is one of the better ones, interesting as this isn't even an "official" hyacinth vase. The roots look great but not ready to come out of the cellar yet. The bulge of the flower has to come out from the bulb. Another few weeks and this will come inside and may be flowering for Christmas.

These two bulbs are completely rotten, they are sinking right down into the vases, and what a smell when I emptied the vases!

This is typical of some of the poorer bulbs, shriveled and no roots. Does not appear to have green shoot starting at the top, only the bulblet on the left appears to be growing.

The crocus bulb from the vase on the right was thoroughly mouldy and needed discarding, the one on the left is also mouldy but may bloom eventually.