Hyacinth: planting in open ground

Hyacinth is a spectacular decoration for any flower bed. These flowers can be used to create the most extraordinary flower arrangements. This flower appears almost immediately after the snow has melted. Hyacinth begins to bloom at the end of April. Varieties vary from ordinary, primitive to terry. The aroma is very bright, intense and sweet.

Hyacinth: choosing a place for a flower bed

These plants have no particular planting preferences. Hyacinth grows well in fertile soil and is very fond of the sun. The place must be chosen very carefully. The best areas for a flower bed should be located on a hill and well protected from the cold wind. Flowers do not tolerate trees and shrubs that cast too much shade. And they take a huge amount of nutrients from the soil. Stagnant moisture in a flower bed can lead to diseases and fungi. Remember the soil should be light and loose.

Hyacinth: the choice of planting material

For planting, you need to choose healthy and strong bulbs. You need to inspect them very carefully.

1) We select only elastic bulbs, which reach at least 4 - 5 cm in diameter. There should be a large number of scales on top, this indicates that the plant is ready for planting.

2) There should be no mold and diaper rash on the bulb.

3) Mechanical damage also indicates poor quality planting material.

4) There should be small root rudiments on the bottom.

If the bulbs meet all of these requirements, they are suitable for planting and take root very quickly. Planting is best done in the fall.

Planting hyacinth

As I said, planting hyacinth is best done in the fall. During the winter, the flower will grow stronger and in early spring will begin to bloom. Before planting, be sure to prepare the soil. A month before planting hyacinths, we deeply dig up the soil, add compost or any other fertilizers. When planting hyacinths, you need to keep a distance, they do not tolerate dense plantings. It is imperative to deepen the bulbs so that they do not freeze in winter. I pay close attention to the correct planting dates. In the Urals, as well as in the middle zone of our country, it is better to land in September. In more southern regions, you can wait until October. If you plant hyacinths earlier, they will germinate and die from frost in winter. And late planting is fraught with the fact that the bulbs will not have time to take root. Landings must be protected from frost. For this I use spruce branches or sawdust. As soon as the snow melts, the covering material must be removed.

Care

Caring for these plants is not difficult, but requires responsibility and attention. Regular watering, weeding and feeding strictly on schedule.

Top dressing should be done as follows:

1) When the first shoots appear, the flower must be fed. I usually feed my flower bed with ammonium nitrate.

2) The second feeding is carried out during the flowering period, I feed the hyacinths usually with superphosphates.

3) The third feeding should be done after the plants have faded. You can feed them with any complex fertilizers.

We remove the bulbs for storage

After flowering, we dig out the bulbs. If this is not done, then in the next season the flowering will be more scarce. The best time for harvesting hyacinths for storage is the beginning of July. We examine all the bulbs, without exception. We eliminate the sick and the weak, process the healthy, dry and cleanse. It takes a week to dry the hyacinth bulbs, after which you can safely store them.I usually store hyacinths in a box, lay out the bulbs in two layers, lay the layers with newspapers or paper towels. Do not forget that storage is one of the most important measures. Indeed, during this period, the processes of formation of inflorescences are underway.