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In spring, hyacinths are among the first to bloom in the garden – they open their buds around mid-April. These delicate flowers have many beautiful colors, their varieties differ in the timing of flowering and the structure of inflorescences: today there are three types of hyacinths and more than five hundred varieties. Herbaceous hyacinth plants are intended for open ground, but flower growers also grow them in pots, containers, baskets. This versatile flower will be a wonderful decoration for a garden, flower bed, window sill or balcony. Only the capricious nature of bulbous hyacinths upsets, but this can be dealt with if you follow the rules of planting and care.
About when to plant hyacinths in open ground: in spring or autumn, how to plant them correctly and how to care for these flowers – will be discussed in this article. Here you can also find information on how to transplant and propagate hyacinths, how to feed them and where to store the bulbs until the next planting.
Description of colors
Growing hyacinths in the open field has been practiced by flower growers all over the world for more than four hundred years. The Middle East, Mediterranean countries, North Africa are considered to be the birthplace of spring flowers. Dutch breeders have put so much effort into spreading these plants across all continents that today the Netherlands can safely be called their second home. Exactly millions of bulbs are sent from Holland every year, in this country breeders breed new varieties of hyacinths, work to expand their shades and types.
Initially, hyacinths were classified as a member of the Liliaceae family, some scientists singled out a separate species for them – Hyacinths. Modern botany claims that these bulbous flowers should be attributed to the Asparagus family, they are perennials, and in the name of hyacinths sounds like “rain flowers”.
The leaves of hyacinths are pointed, dense. The flowers are collected in racemose inflorescences, the shape of which can be cylindrical or cone-shaped. Perianths are bell-shaped funnels with petals bent outwards. The fruit of the plant is a seed with a thin skin.
Classification of varieties
The basis for breeding varieties and breeding new hybrids of hyacinths are three types of these flowers:
- Oriental.
- Litvinov.
- Transcaspian.
Varieties of flowers are still usually divided into simple and double, depending on the structure and shape of the inflorescences. According to the timing of flowering, early, middle and late varieties are distinguished. Hyacinths of any type usually bloom from 12 to 25 days – the duration of flowering depends on air temperature and solar activity.
Depending on the color of the variety, it is customary to divide it into six more groups:
- blue and blue inflorescences (Perle Brillante, Marie, Queen of the blues);
- lilac varieties (Blue Magic, Indigo King, Bismarck);
- pink flowers (Moreno, Anna Marie, Gertruda);
- red hyacinths (Hollyhock, La Victoire, Tubcrgen’s Scarlet);
- white varieties (Arentine Arendsen, Snow Crystal, Madam Sofie);
- yellow and orange inflorescences (Yellow Hammer, City of Haarlem, Orange Boven).
Features of growing bulbous flowers
Growing hyacinths is not an easy process. These flowers are quite capricious, they make special demands on the planting site, soil composition, and degree of humidity. Bulb flowers also need constant care: several top dressings, moderate watering, digging, storage and annual transplantation.
Buying bulbs
Growing any flowers begins with the purchase of planting material. Usually, hyacinths are propagated by bulbs, so the grower will need to purchase high-quality and healthy bulbs of these flowers.
To determine suitable bulb specimens for planting, it is necessary to identify the following signs:
- the diameter of the bulb should be medium – no more than 4-6 cm (terry and yellow varieties, as a rule, have smaller bulbs);
- the size of a healthy bulb is usually 1,5 times the diameter of the bottom;
- outwardly, flower bulbs should be beautiful, glossy and clean;
- to the touch, the planting material is elastic, dense, without traces of rot and other lesions.
Site Preparation
The transplantation of the purchased bulbs should be carried out correctly – the splendor and abundance of flowering of hyacinths depends on this. One of the most important stages of growing these flowers is the right and well-prepared planting site.
Fans of bulbous hyacinths should take into account the following features of these colors:
- The lighting on the site should be bright, but at the same time, direct sunlight greatly reduces the flowering time of hyacinths. As a rule, they try to plant these flowers near trees or shrubs in order to prolong their flowering.
- The soil in the flower bed should be loose, well-drained, with neutral acidity. In heavy soils, it is imperative to add baking powder in the form of sand or peat. Acidic earth must be limed with dolomite flour or other means.
- Groundwater should not lie close to the ground, as the “rain flower” does not tolerate waterlogging – the bulbs will rot. For the same reason, a place for planting these flowers is chosen on a slope, high beds are created, and drainage is taken care of.
- Strong winds and drafts are also dangerous for delicate flowers, so it is recommended to plant bulbs near natural protection (hedge, wall, tree or shrub).
- It is impossible to fertilize hyacinths with fresh organic matter (neither at the time of transplantation, nor later), since fungal infections often develop because of this, which pose a great danger to bulbs.
Landing in the ground
As a rule, planting hyacinths in open ground in the spring is not performed – in central Our Country, the bulbs are transplanted in the fall. The most suitable time for this is the period from the end of September to the second decade of October. Here it is very important to plant hyacinths in the ground not too early and not too late: in the first case, the flowers will start to grow and freeze with frost, the second situation is dangerous because the hyacinths do not have time to take root properly and also will not survive the winter.
It is recommended to prepare the soil for planting hyacinths in advance – two months before transplanting, the site is dug up, having previously scattered fertilizers on the ground. If you do not dig the ground in advance, there is a high risk of the bulbs failing during the shrinkage of the soil.
Fertilizers for “rain flowers” should be complex. Per square meter you will need:
- 70 grams of superphosphate;
- a glass of wood ash;
- 250 grams of limestone (if the acidity of the soil exceeds 6,5);
- a bucket of compost or humus;
- peat and river sand, depending on the composition of the soil.
Bulbs should be planted at a depth that is three times their diameter. For example, onions up to 5 cm in size are planted at a depth of 12-15 cm, for larger bulbs, holes 15-18 cm deep will be needed.
The recommended interval between adjacent hyacinth bulbs is 15-20 cm. In order for the flowers to grow evenly, they are planted at the same depth and bulbs of approximately the same size are selected for each row.
It is best to plant hyacinths in a “sand jacket”. To do this, three centimeters of river sand should be poured into the bottom of each hole during the planting process. Then the bulb is placed on the bottom sand down (do not press!). A little sand is poured on top again, and then the hole is covered with soil. After transplanting, the flowers need to be lightly watered.
Care instructions
Caring for hyacinths is not easy – these flowers are capricious and demanding. But with a competent approach and little attention from the grower, it will be enough for a lush and long flowering.
Caring for bulbous flowers should consist of the following steps:
- Weeds in the flower bed must be removed, as hyacinth does not tolerate such a “neighborhood”.
- The soil is regularly loosened, and in order not to do this, you can mulch the flower bed with organic matter.
- Watering flowers is required only in dry and hot weather. Hyacinth is the case when excess moisture is more dangerous than its lack. The depth of wetting the soil during irrigation should be 15-20 cm.
- Feed “rain flowers” should be three times a season. What to feed, the florist decides. This scheme is optimal: after the appearance of sprouts, ammonium nitrate can be added; during the budding period, saltpeter is mixed with superphosphate and potassium chloride; when the flowering period ends, potassium and nitrate are added in equal proportions.
Hyacinth stems should be pruned after flowering, but the flowers continue to be watered and cared for until the leaves are completely dry.
Digging and storing bulbs
When the leaves of the flowers dry, their bulbs must be dug up and stored until the next planting (in autumn). Usually the tubers are dug up at the end of June, but the exact timing depends on the flowering time of a particular variety.
Dug onions should be washed and inspected for infection or mechanical damage. It is better to disinfect the selected high-quality planting material by placing it in a rich pink solution of potassium permanganate for 10-15 minutes.
After disinfection, the hyacinth tubers are dried, dry scales are separated from them, and the roots are cut off. Now the planting material needs to be folded into tight fabric bags, opaque plastic containers or cardboard boxes.
The first 1,5-2 months, hyacinths are stored in a dark place with a temperature of about 23-25 degrees. Subsequently, they need to be removed to a cooler place where the air temperature does not exceed 17 degrees (a dry basement is suitable).
To do this, cross-shaped incisions are made on the bottom of the largest bulbs – after a while several children will appear there. These shoots are separated and grown in pots for several years.
Conclusion
Hyacinths are beautiful and very showy flowers, as evidenced by the photo from the article. In addition to the catchy appearance, these plants have another advantage – early flowering, which occurs in mid-April.
If you correctly select the varieties of “rain flowers”, you can enjoy their delicate colors for a couple of months. The only difficulty in growing is the annual replanting of the bulbs and their storage.
