Seeking "Heirloom" hyacinths

I'm trying to find sources for Hyacinthus orientalis var. alba (Southern hyacinth, wild hyacinth). The blooms are less packed than a regular Hyacinth and they do well in the South and they are fragrant. I found some at Old House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs but they are kind of pricey. Supposedly, they are a common bulb in the fragrance industry and commonly used for forcing. I am kind of surprised that they would be hard to find. If anybody knows of an alternate source, please let me know.

Hi, barksy

--very interesting question--may I ask where you read or heard about the var. alba?
Are you using it for perfume making, by chance? Or a wonderful old-fashioned hyacinth garden?...

'Alba' certainly seems to be elusive on google, doesn't it? I didn't find anything on hyacinthus orientalis var. 'alba', but I did find this little quotation about hyacinths from Carl Sandberg...

'Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits'...

Does that do anything for you? ;-) t.

Hey Barksy,
Just plant regular hyacinths in the shade and totally neglect them for a few years. They will get very leggy and thin, and of course they will be fragrant. I prefer them that way as compared to the fat, loaded ones that want to flop over.

Hi, again, barksy--

Did I find some pictures of your hyacinths? For some reason I thought they would be white hyacinths...You have piqued my curiosity and now I am determined to find out why they are found for purchase nowhere (except OHG)!

I agree, if you want to do a 'look' like the second link, you will have a fortune sunk into bulbs! But maybe you can find that field and dig a few!


http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=+site%3Awww.ibiblio.org+hyacinthus+orientalis&btnG=Search

http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Hyacinthoides_non-scripta_Lake.jpg

I'm going to keep google-ing on these hyacinths and see what I can find out about them....

Paghat gives some excellent background on 'alba'--

http://www.paghat.com/romanhyacinth.html

it does look like they are extremely rare these days... I couldn't even find them at OHG!

Hi Tabasco and Toxicodendron - I originally read about these very basic hyacinths in "Garden Bulbs for the South" by Ogden. The author seems to enjoy old varieties and makes them sound really appealing. A great book for the text. In general the photos are kind of dim but there is a really nice photo of Hyacinthus orientalis var. albulus (I think I mis-spelled on my first post) on page 57. They are very cute and informal. They are white and they naturalize. I have found some for sale on the web recently but the sites are all in Dutch! If I come across any useful bulb sources, I will let you all know. I might try Toxicodendron's approach also mentioned in my source book! Another option, although not fragrant, but with small sprays of white flowers is Anomatheca cruenta (Lapeirousia laxa) var. alba but I can't find it for sale either!

I would go for the fragrance, Barksy, it is so heavenly when you sit downwind of it. Good luck with whatever you do!