Growing Hyacinth and Muscari

Planting and Caring for Hyacinths and Grape Hyacinths

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Hyacinths bloom in midspring, filling the garden with a burst of pastel colors when most of the garden is just waking up. Their fragrance is so intoxicating that they’ve been called “nature’s perfume.” Like most perennial bulbs, they’re easy to grow and come back year after year! Hyacinths are also wonderful for container gardens. Here’s a guide to growing and caring for hyacinths.

About Hyacinths and Grape Hyacinths

Hyacinths (Hyacinthus): Originally a pale blue or violet flower, hyacinth now come in a rainbow of colors including lilacs, pinks, white, cobalt blue, cream, apricot and even a blood red hue. Each hyacinth bulb generally produces one flower stalk that stands 8 to 10” tall. The hyacinth’s loose-to-dense racemes (clusters) of strongly fragrant flowers may be closely-packed single or double flowers.
Grape hyacinths (Muscari) are not directly related to true hyacinths, but also bloom in mid-spring and have the same care requirements. This tiny wonder has has small clusters of bell-shaped, cobalt-blue flowers.

On this page, we will refer to both Hyacinthus and Muscari plants as “hyacinths” for simplicity’s sake!

As hyacinth are one of the first blooms, they look best at the front of a perennial garden, near the front door, along a walkway or in mixed borders. These beauties are also a great choice for pots and planters. Hyacinth make wonderful cutting flowers, too, and look stunning in bouquets. As the flowers are famous for their fragrance, you can bring the sweet scent of spring inside!

The Victorians revered hyacinths for their sweet, lingering fragrance, and carefully massed them in low beds, planting in rows of one color each. In general, hyacinths are said symbolize playfulness, sport, and rashness, though meanings are color-dependent. Learn more about the meanings of flowers.

Please note: Most hyacinths grow in zones 3 to 9. They must have cold temperatures of 40 to 45°F for at least 12 to 14 weeks. If temperatures in your area do not get this cold, you’ll need to pre-chill the bulbs in a refrigerator before planting them outdoors.

Planting

When to Plant Hyacinths

Plant hyacinth bulbs in mid-to-late autumn, any time after your first fall frost and before the ground freezes.

Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site

For the largest blooms and straightest stems, choose a site that gets full sun. The bulbs are tolerant of partial shade as well.
Grow in loosened, moderately fertile soil that drains well. Avoid low areas where water collects; hyacinths will rot in wet soil.
Before planting, loosen the soil and work in 2 to 4 inches of compost or bonemeal for fertility.

How to Plant Hyacinths

Plant hyacinth bulbs 6” deep. Space 5 to 6” apart (grape hyacinth can be 2” apart). At the northern limits of their hardiness (USDA Zone 3), plant 1 to 2 inches deeper to ensure winter hardiness.
If you wish to plant 5 or more bulbs at the same time, dig out a larger area. Hyacinths look beautiful in groupings of 5 to 9 bulbs.
Grape hyacinth also look best in masses and loose drifts.
Set the bulb in the hole with the pointy end up.
After planting and covering with soil, water thoroughly.
Apply a 1-to-2-inch layer of mulch around the plants to discourage weeds and disease.
If you are transplanting, water sparingly and then do not water again until flower buds appear the following year.
Warning: Hyacinth bulbs (and daffodil bulbs) contain a substance called oxalic acid, which can be irritating to bare skin. Use gloves when handling these bulbs for extended periods.

Hyacinth emerging in spring

Forcing Hyacinth Bulbs Indoors

Hyacinth bulbs may be forced into early growth for indoor display in the winter. Plant them with the tips just showing, in soil-based potting mix in containers with drainage holes.
Keep in a dark place at temperatures above freezing but no higher than 45°F (7°C), for at least 10 weeks to allow roots to develop.
When shoots are about 1 inch long, increase light and temperature gradually.
Water carefully, avoiding wetting the shoots or waterlogging the soil. Soil should be moist, not wet.
After flowering, forced hyacinths may be transplanted to the garden and they will flower again in subsequent years.

Care

Caring for Hyacinths

Do NOT overwater hyacinth. They do not like stand water or to have “wet feet.” Water ONLY if the soil is dry at a depth of 3 inches. If it is dry at that depth, it is time to water.
Water deeply at soil level, not from overhead or with a sprinkler which encourages disease. Lay the hose end next to the plant, turn the hose on low and water for about 30 minutes or until the soil is moist. A soaker hose turned on low for a few hours will cover a larger area effectively.
With the organic matter and mulch, you do not need to fertilize. However, it’s fine to sprinkle a commercial organic fertilizer over the soil.
Protect container-grown plants from excessive winter moisture by keeping them covered or moving them to a sheltered area.

White hyacinth

Pests/Diseases

Bulbs are prone to gray mold and bulb rot when kept too wet.

Harvest/Storage

What to Do With Hyacinths After Flowering

Outdoors

After your hyacinths have finished flowering, remove the blooms, but don’t remove the foliage. The bulbs need their leaves to gather energy for next year’s blooms. At the end of the spring season, the foliage will die back naturally. Remove when the leaves have turned brown to help prevent fungal diseases.
Hyacinth bulbs can remain in the ground throughout the year in most planting zones. If you live a warm climate where temperatures do not get below 60°F, bulbs should be dug up in the fall and refrigerated in a cool, dry area for 6 to 8 weeks. Hyacinths require a period of colder weather to bloom.

Indoors

Hyacinth bulbs that have finished flowering indoors can be transplanted to the garden. After flowering, they need time to gather energy for next year’s blooms, so they should not be placed directly into storage.
After their foliage dies back outdoors, hyacinth bulbs can be brought indoors and stored in a cool, dark, dry place until the fall or winter.

Recommended Varieties

Hyacinth Orientalis Blue Jacket: One of the great blues of the flower world. These award-winning hyacinths display big columns of royal blue florets with crisp white edges.
Hyacinth Orientalis City of Haarlem: A wonderful heirloom variety that’s been popular since the late 1800s. The flowers are soft, primrose yellow, maturing to creamy white.
Hyacinth Orientalis Gypsy Queen: Gypsy Queen is an heirloom hyacinth with salmon pink petals that have peach and buttery-yellow highlights.
Hyacinth Orientalis Jan Bos: Intensely fragrant, this award-winning hyacinth has fuschia-pink florets that are tightly packed into large flowerheads.
Hyacinthus Orientalis Miss Saigon: With a deep rich purple color, this fragrant hyacinth is covered with starry, violet florets. Gorgeous!
Hyacinth Orientalis Pink Pearl: Rose-pink flower heads turn heads with their cotton-candy sweetness; Pink Pearl is favorite for spring containers to add a pop of color.
Muscari Armeniacum: This Grape Hyacinth has small and delicate cobalt-blue flowers which look gorgeous when planted en masse.

Grape Hyacinths

Wit & Wisdom

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Hyacinth Bulbs Poisonous to Cats and Dogs?

Yes, hyacinth bulbs are poisonous to pets. Many spring flowers, such as hyacinths and daffodils, contain a compound that may cause stomach and respiratory issues, as well as skin irritation. This substance—calcium oxalate—is most concentrated in the bulbs, but is also found in the foliage and flowers of the hyacinth plant. Keep hyacinths out of reach of curious pets and children, and wear gloves when handling hyacinth bulbs for long periods of time.

The one upside to the hyacinth’s toxicity is that common garden pests, such as squirrels and groundhogs, often aren’t as tempted to eat your hyacinth bulbs!

Will Hyacinths Bloom Again?

Yes and no. Hyacinths bloom just once per year (in the spring), but they will happily bloom again in subsequent years if provided with the proper care. They are a perennial plant.

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Reader Comments

"seeds" forming on old blossom stalk of my hyacinths

I was away for awhile and came home to find "seeds" forming on the blossom stalks of a couple of my hyacinths....can I start new plants from these?

bulbs that were dug up in sprint

I have several hyacinth bulbs that were dug up by a neighbor today, May 1st (they are redoing their garden). They are, of course done blooming for this year. I am in Maryland, zone 7b, about to start on a hot summer. Should I go ahead and plant the bulbs now? Or should I store them to plant in the fall? In either case should I cut back the foliage?

Thanks!!!
diane

Hyacinths bulbs.

You mentioned that a commercial organic fertilizer can be sprinkled around the plants. What type? 3/3/3/ or 10 /10/10 or blood meal ? Bone meal invites the critters to dig.

Hyacinths bulbs.

You mentioned that a commercial organic fertilizer can be sprinkled around the plants. What type? 3/3/3/ or 10 /10/10 or blood meal ? Bone meal invites the critters to dig.

Only a couple of flowers

What causes hyacinth plants to bloom with only 4 or 5 flowers on the stem instead of a full bloom? (like the plant on the left in the 2nd picture above). If I fertilize more, will that help? They get plenty of sun and should store lots of energy for the next spring so why can't they grow a bunch of flowers?

why a meager hyacinth bloom?

A couple of things could cause weak or insufficientt blooms: not enough of a winter chill period, and failure to allow the foliage to die back naturally. Did they get mown down? (The foliage makes the energy to bloom in the next season.)

Hyacinth

I read the articles and am still confused! My friend gave me a potted hyacinth plant in full bloom. I have a yard full of the beauties and can I add this potted one in my garden?
Thankyou,

Gale Moskowitz

planting gift/forced hyacinths...

As noted above, the planting time is mid- to late autumn. Allow the gift to die back in ts container and plant it then,

Cut hyacinth scent

I added hyacinth to my spring bulbs two years ago and have no issues with them outdoor thus far. But I wasn't aware of just how powerful the smell is when cut and displayed in a vase indoors. As with everything in life, people have differing opinions and differing responses to stimuli. I found the hyacinth scent far too strong, to the point of creating a mild headache and some sinus discomfort. While they are gorgeous in the garden, I still wanted some for vases. The good news is that hyacinth scent is most powerful the first day or so after they are cut. Since they last nearly a week in a vase, the solution was simple: cut some, leave them in the hall or basement to give off the strongest scent, then bring them in! Give it a try if they are too strong for you.

Started blooming very early. Now what?

My hyacinth is two years old and in a pot since last year. I live in zone 7, NC. It spent winter on the covered deck covered up but it started waking up/blooming in early February and now looks kinda, blah. I brought it back out in the sun and it seems happy except for the flowers. What can I do for it?

Hyacinth in pots

Hi, Bella, If you’d like the hyacinth to stay in the pot year after year, they need to start out in a soil-based compost and be planted 3 inches apart.
Every spring, work in a little slow-release bulb fertiliser into the compost surface. Check and water the compost to keep it moist, but not waterlogged.

Hyacinths in the desert

I was given some lovely potted hyacinths and they have now finished blooming. I live in Tucson, Arizona - zone 9. How can I keep them going? Any alternative to planting outdoors?

Sprouts

I received a potted hyacinth earlier this year, and I kept it in the same place since it has lost its bloom and leaves. Now it looks like it is starting to bloom, with the bulbs resurfacing and a sprout emerging. Should I water it, or leave it be? Also should I open my shade in the window to let it get light or keep the shade down? I live in New England so it gets cold, but can be quite sunny in that window in the afternoon.

hyacinth peeking up

It may be (probably is) off it’s cycle—plant in fall for a cold spell, bloom in spring, die back and rest in summer before enjoying another cold period—so it may just send up foliage. Water it, give it light, and see what happens. But don’t be disappointed. Potted bulbs are usually forced to bloom for the spring holidays and enthusiasms, so this may be its last hurrah.

Hyacinth dropping

Hi, I received a potted hyacinth on Thursday May 28,2020. When I received them two bulbs were already dropping they were laying on the table. Now Sunday May 31,2020 all the bulbs are laying on the table. What does this meaning? What do I do now? I watered them on Thursday and then again last night. How do I take care of the Hyacinth?

Thank you

drooping bulbs

Purchased potted bulbs (say that three times fast) are almost always forced. We can only guess that perhaps they were weak or even spent just before you received them. Or, and this is just a wild hunch, if the person who gave them to you transplanted blooming bulbs into the pot as a gift, they did not survive the uprooting and resetting, so flopped over, confused about what to do and weary from the experience.

Replanting bulbs in a "holding bed"

I have some great Hyacinth bulbs and am planning on them returning for years to come (Columbus, Ohio). I would like to move my spent bulbs to a secondary holding bed so that I can plant some annuals in that prime real estate in my garden beds. Is this something that I can expect any success with? I was planning on digging up the bulbs with their leaf-stalks and just moving them to another bed until Fall when I would bring back the bulbs to be planted again for next Spring.
What are my chances at success here? Any tips I should be thinking of?
Thanks in advance!

moving hyacinths

The first thing to think about is Plan B: how will you feel, and what will you do, if the bulbs do not survive the transitions? It is generally and widely recommended to let bulbs die back in place (the ground they bloomed in), leaving th foliage to “yellow” naturally, without tiebacks or other techniques that put the foliage out of sight or lacking sun exposure. In short, the rule of thumb is to leave them alone. Lifting them and resetting them would be jarring (think about it: the plant just put on a show and is resting, catching up on spent energy and gets this shock to its system!). IF, capital letters, you can dig deep enough to take the soil that the bulbs are in, plus a few inches of soil under and around the bulbs, and move the whole thing without disturbing the bulbs, it might, might work. At least, on a few of the bulbs. But you won’t know for sure until show time.

Hi I just bought some hyacinth at local plant store

They have flowered and the followers are still on them , but looking old

My Question is , will there be any seeds produced in the flower heads

Thank you

Repotting or Planting

I just received a hyacinth as a gift for Mother's Day. It has three beautiful blooms right now and is in just the small pot from a garden center purchase. Can this be replanted right now and if so, where is best--a pot or the ground? I live in Southeast Louisiana. Thank you!

Hyacinth blooms prematurely

All my hyacinth plants are blooming before they fully emerge from the ground. What is my problem?

Hyacinth Blooms

Could you have planted them too deep? Hyacinths should be planted only 3-4 inches into the soil. If they’re too deep, they may struggle to emerge properly.

planting in spring

Can young plants be planted in the spring, their in a container now.

transplanting hyacinths in pots

Leave it in the pot, Richard. Give it balanced (not strong light) keep the water to the lower middle of the bulb until after it blooms (add no more water then), and let the foliage fade away. There is no guarantee that it will bloom again, but you can cut off the dead foliage and plant the bulb about 6 inches deep and see what, if anything, happens next spring. If you do not live in an area that experiences winter, nothing will happen; hyacinths need a cold spell to bloom. So it’s best to enjoy it now…and buy a new plant when it passes.

When to plant Hyacinth in zone 10

Growing Hyacinth in Southern California zone 10:
Bulbs from local stores Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Chilling Hyacinth bulbs in mid September (for 2 months)
Planting in mid November, in the containers, in shade with indirect sunlight
Watering gently for 2 months. When the shoots grow few inches tall, bring the containers to the direct sunlight place.
Blooming now in late January.
Whenever you ask or share the information, please write the hardiness zone where you are, so other people can learn and apply. Happy gardening to Almanac and guests!

When to plant Hyacinth

Hi The Editors, I live in San Diego Zone 10. My Tulip, Hyacinth, Daffodil bulbs have been chilled from September 15, some are chilled from Oct and November, until now in refrigerator. I haven’t planted them yet because the grower websites recommend that they need to be chilled at least 15 weeks. Please let me know when I can plant them. Can I plant them now or I need to wait until Jan 2020? Thank you so much for your advise. I love your website very much, it’s so helpful and beautiful.

Pink Hyacinth

I bought a bulb in a see through vase with long roots. It has already bloomed. It has long tall leaves. Can I plant it in a pot and not in the ground? I live in California.

planting hyacinthus

what is to be expected if I plant the bulbs in the spring with or without the potted one I purchased to be planted soon

muscari armeniacum

I planted 14 bulbs outdoor in late fall zone 6A and now beginning of March they all started shooting up 1-2 inches through mulch. There will be some freezing days ahead so my concern is that will they die?

frost protection

If you have several inches of mulch, then the bulbs themselves should be fine. To protect the leaves and buds that have emerged, then you may want to provide frost protection the afternoon before a frost is predicted overnight. You can use row covers, sheets, etc., ideally propped up on stakes (or hoops) so as not to touch (and possibly damage) the plants–be sure that all edges of the fabric are tucked into the soil, to prevent cold air from seeping in under the fabric. Another alternative is to cover each bulb individually with something like a plastic jug or inverted flower pot. Remove the fabric or other protection in the morning just after temperatures rise above freezing. Watering the soil before covering the plants can also help.