February’s Flower of the Month - Hyacinth
Friday, February 27th, 2009
The humble Hyacinth is often passed over as a cut flower as it’s not a particularly dramatic or tall flower, but all the best things come in small packages. You only have to inhale the scent of a Hyacinth, with its soft, soapy perfume, and you’ll instantly think ‘Spring’. Traditionally and more commonly Hyacinths are grown as flowering bulbs, often planted late Autumn in bowls or pots, then hidden away in a dark cupboard or corner to bring out to flower for Christmas or early Spring. However Hyacinths are becoming more widely available as cut flowers and even some of the large supermarket chains now stock cut Hyacinths in their flower sections.
Popular colours for cut hyacinths are blue/mauve, white or pink, however more recent cultivars include a pale yellow, apricot, deep purple and deep fuschia-pink. When buying Hyacinths as cut flowers, always look for tight green buds (know as ‘nails’), tinged with colour, along with firm stems and leaves - a good sign of freshness. To preserve the vase life of cut Hyacinths, it is best NOT to cut the base of the stem (one of the few cut flowers which do not require a re-cut). If the stems are gritty from the soil or sand they have been grown in, simply rinse the stems under running water otherwise this will pollute the vase water.
Place the Hyacinth stems in tepid, clean water and enjoy their long vase life (around 10-14 days) as the buds (or ‘nails’) become plump and colourful and the perfume becomes more intense. It is recommended to change the vase water every 2-3 days to extend the life of the flowers.
