garden withindoors

Crocus in bloom mid-January 2019

hyacinths end of January 2019

January 11th, hyacinths in bloom, after the Delft Blue hyacinths are past their peak, the next wave of hyacinth blooms

Miss Saigon hyacinths

Scarecrow

some purple crocus just opening

an update on the January hyacinths which are looking better and better

the Sainsburys hyacinths on the other side, I needed small bulbs to fit in those Dartington vases

Apricot Passion hyacinths in Davidson bulb bowl

Ann Mary hyacinths in bulb bowl

Delft Blue hyacinths in a SylvaC pot

more Delft Blue hyacinths just starting to bloom

Jan Bos hyacinths

Caribbean Dream

bulb bowls with a variety of sizes of hyacinths, even though all the hyacinths in a bowl were started at the same time

The Delft Blue hyacinths are really reaching their peak, the smell is exquisite

the bulb bowls a couple days later, Davidson bulb bowl with Apricot Passion hyacinths

Ann Mary hyacinths in bulb bowl

Jan Bos hyacinths in a repurposed tureen

Delft Blue

Delft Blue close-up

sometimes the hyacinths bend over, I don't know why or what to do about it

White Pearl, Delft Blue and Jan Bos hyacinths in bloom

Jan Bos hyacinths

White Pearl hyacinths

some hyacinths in bud

hyacinths on Christmas day

some flowers and buds a few days previous

close-up of one of the Delft Blue hyacinths

close-up of some of the buds

I've been taking lots of hyacinths out of the cellar the in the last 10 days, starting on November 19th. The time is different every year, going by how they look. The bulge of the flower must be out of the bulb.

I checked on the bulbs yesterday and watered the pots. The vases generally don't need topping up as the bulb is like a plug limiting evaporation but the pots need watering - which is my least favourite task. I found myself wondering why did I have to plant so many bulbs!

crocus vases with large Dutch crocus bulbs, which I usually use for forcing, with curly roots developing, the odd vase has no roots like the 2nd from left below, these are just a selection

these crocus vases have straight roots developing from crocus chrysanthus bulbs which I guess I decided to try (I was starting so many I can't even remember now but I do know these were sold at Sainsbury's so easier to get than the large Dutch crocus which required a trip to the garden centre or order from Peter Nyssen)

Shorter and other troughs with the crocus chrysanthus bulbs

I dont' know why that one bulb has such a long stem shooting up

I don't know why these have leggy stems - or what to do about them. Does one bring them out as they are so developed or leave them to struggle in the dark??

Scarecrow came to help me organise the final bulb forcing for the season.

I couldn't resist these vintage 1960s plastic hyacinth vases on ebay so a trip to the garden centre for a few more hyacinth bulbs.

while at the garden centre I also bought some muscari and iris reticulata bulbs  and I still had a pack of crocus bulbs

those really small bulbs are needed for the Shorter and Son troughs, iris reticulata in both geese troughs and muscari in the rabbit trough

I guess those are shot glasses but they were on ebay with a hyacinth vase with the same design

muscari in the blue bird troughs, those 2 golden syrup tins on the right are rusted through so can't be used but I planted up the 3 on the left, previously the larger golden syrup tins were planted with hyacinth bulbs, these are smaller and need muscari or crocus

for some of the muscari bulbs, they are going in pots to stay in the garden, no more room in the cellar and some years the muscari doesn't bloom indoors any earlier than outdoors

unlike the hyacinth bulbs that must not be in contact with water, the crocus bulbs need to be in the water to spur them into growth

I have a few vases left that need bulbs so I bought another pack from Sainsburys - just for convenience

I did the remaining vases and a few other containers, including that "joined ball" posy (not sure what else to call it.

on closer examination the middle balls are squashed in and taller so the crocus bulbs would not be in contact with the water if I just put them on like that

instead I put bulbs on the lower balls and pushed them in a bit like a plug, added more water and put on the remaining bulbs

Then I had a few bulbs to use in some of the Shorter and Son troughs. I'll have to get a few more bulbs, maybe muscari from the garden centre. (Sainsburys doesn't have any muscari bulbs). And I found a hyacinth bulb I missed on the ground under the table. 

so I put that last hyacinth in a jam jar over pebbles and water, not having any hyacinth vases left

Peter Nyssen have gone over to compostable bags for their bulbs - great news

Bloms are still using some sort of mesh plastic? not only is it plastic but sure animals could get caught if left in the garden, especially the larger mesh of the orange bag

The first step of hyacinth bulb forcing is getting some hyacinth bulbs. This week I received my order from Peter Nyssen and bought some bulbs from B+Q and Sainsburys. I have a print-out of my spreadsheet where I can note which bulb I put in each vase (each vase is numbered). As soon as I started, the cats started appearing, first Bear.

then Scarecrow

then Jeffrey, predictably a cat has gotten in the empty box the bulbs came in

then Victor

After the bulbs, one needs some vases to put them in. I like a range of vases of all styles. On the right (and the terracotta ones on the left) are some of my Victorian vases.

Some of the modern vases, including things I'm just going to use that aren't "official" hyacinth vases such as that jug.

put a hyacinth bulb in the vase and fill it with water to just below the bulb, then put somewhere dark, a shed, cellar, even a closet

I bought prepared hyacinth bulbs from Peter Nyssen and Bloms Bulbs but I also bought

some smaller bulbs from Sainsburys and B+Q

Socks doesn't come outside very much but eventually even he had to come and investigate the hyacinth bulb forcing

the tall cups are useful for hiding bulb imperfections, if the bulbs are split they are on display with the smaller cups, bulb pots and bowls

that salvia stem broke off so I had to pop it in a vase quickly, the hyacinth vases were handy; the smaller bulbs are good for the bulb bowl with 5 bulb holes, some of the larger bulbs don't fit together

after touching hyacinth bulbs for 2 days, I've gotten seriously itchy - be careful, they can be irritating

I wish I'd saved some of the smaller bulbs for the bulb bowls. Fitting 5 close together is difficult. That larger bowl isn't a problem but the smaller ones are challenging.

I got my delivery from Bloms Bulbs today (Tuesday the 18th) so I've been busy getting more vases ready. I'm on the last few vases and realise I've been going so quickly I haven't taken time to enjoy them and these are so beautiful so taking a moment to look at them.

these amethyst vases have such a beautiful jewel-like colour, the classic forcing hyacinth, Delft Blue, seems appropriate to use