Hyacinths

I really love hyacinths but they are not cheap. I have never seen hyacinths to begin to match their first year of blooming vitality. The first year the bloom stalk is loaded, the second year, about half of that and by the third year the plant may have dissappeared altogether. Am I missing something or is this their common lifestyle? Does anyone know of a particular breed of them that continues to bloom nicely? I have been able to find the tulips that are truly perennial but not the hyacinths.

Oh no! You mean my Hyacinths won't be as nice this year??? Bummer! My sister bought a house 4 years ago & she has some HUGE Hyacinths & they look just as nice as the years go by, but she doesn't know anything about them. I got mine through a fundraiser for my son's preschool, I think it was through Brecks but not sure. If mine happen to do good, I'll let you know. The tulips I bought from them 3 years ago have done great. Julie

WoodSpirit
I always buy them at clearence prices. AT Franks Nursery by me I go when they are starting to fade from the force and buy them all up ( usually 3 bulbs to a pot for .97cents)and I just plant them and they come up every year. I recently dug some up for my friend and they bloomed in her house. Smelled great, looked great and she is going to plant them in her yard. I am a new gardner, but I have to say that I have had great success with them. Perhaps its beginners luck but cant see that stretch lasting 3 years! I planted mine under a pine tree and they still came up great. Perhaps they arent getting enough sun or maybe its the soil? I dont do anything special to them ( dont even feed them!!)
Dont give up!!!
Janice

Here are a few things to consider:

A general rule with all bulbs is to not remove the foliage until it is truly dead. As it dies back, it is restoring energy to the bulb for next year's blooms. A lot of gardeners want to "tidy up" their bed as soon as the bulbs are through blooming, and they cut off the foliage too soon.

A better solution is to interplant some late-season bulbs, or early spring flowering perennials that will pick up where the bulbs leave off, and divert attention from the dying foliage.

Another problem is that sometimes bulbs just give out after a few years, especially in warmer climates. I think (and some bulb experts should jump in here!) that making sure you plant them deep enough will help - they need the coolest soil possible during the summer, and the nearer the surface they are, the hotter they'll be.

If neither of these are issues for you, you might dig a few of the bulbs up after they die back, and see if the problem is underground - is something eating the bulbs, or maybe they're staying too wet and suffering from decay?

And while some like Janice have great success without doing a thing, a bulb booster (fertilizer) can help; you can pick some up at any nursery, and just follow the package directions for when/how/how much to apply.

Hope this helps....and good luck! Hyacinths are one of my favorite early spring bulbs.

when i was a wee tike my father had a business down the new jersey shore. a two hour drive from where we lived. down along the way was a Hyacinths farm not far from buena vista.

the thing i rember vididly is the smell. not the Hyacinths the horse manure. it stank from may till spring then you couldn't breath from the Hyacinths. try some manure in that Hyacinths patch!!!!

Well Woodspirit, my Hyacinths have bloomed. They are smaller than last year (by about 2-3") but they still had plenty of flowers on them. I have never fertlized them, and have always left the foilage on them to die back. I did dig them up last summer and moved to a new house. they looked fine when I planted them, they just got shorter. I don't know, maybe the bulb fertilizer is the way to go. Hubby won't let me use the stinky kind! Julie

woodspirit... I can attest to using a bulb booster! As I have been learning about gardening, I finally used some last year on my calla lilys, and had great blooms where I didn't before. I also used it on my glads, and when I dug them, they had tripled in quantity, not counting all the bulblets or what ever you call them. I use bone meal. (Or, is it blood meal?) Too cool yet to go to the garden shed and look at the box! -darius

O.K. I am convinced that I need to try again. thanks ever so much, folks. I had an aunt named Lina, probably short for Carolina and they were her favorites. Her middle name was Belle so I think of hyacinths as Carolina Belles. I hope I can grow them in honor of her. She was a great gardener.