How to Plant Hyacinth Bulbs in September for Bowls of Fragrant Christmas Flowers

Hyacinth blooms are a glorious way to scent your home for the holidays and for flowers in December, you need to start bulbs in September. Getting organised early is the only tricky part of growing hyacinth bulbs – the rest is a breeze and boy, it's worth the effort to enjoy fresh, fragrant flowers in the depths of winter.

In bud, a hyacinth's fragrance is fresh and green like a sunny spring day. As the flowers open, the aroma skips straight to high summer, intensely floral and sweetly intoxicating with subtle hints of vanilla and spice. Just one hyacinth can scent an entire room and combine beautifully with all the nostalgic aromas of Christmas cooking, adding unforgettable fragrance to your home through the holidays. So ditch the Christmas scented candles and grow some plant-based fragrance instead.

Here’s what to do, step by straightforward step, to get great results when forcing hyacinth bulbs. And make plenty, as these must-have holiday decor plants make lovely little gifts to give to friends and family.

How to Force Hyacinth Bulbs for Christmas

1. Buy Prepared Bulbs

Left to their own devices, hyacinths are spring-flowering bulbs that naturally bloom between March and May. To enjoy flowers in December, you need to buy bulbs that have been harvested early and heat-treated to trick them into blooming early. These will be clearly marked as ‘prepared’ bulbs. In September, you’ll find prepared hyacinth bulbs for forcing at your local garden center or nursery, and they're usually stocked by Walmart and Lowe’s.

You can plant standard hyacinth bulbs and trick them into growing early, but they’ll typically only grow leaves and are unlikely to flower.

2. Calculate the Timeline

To work out when to plant hyacinth bulbs, work back from the date you want flowers. As a general rule, hyacinth flowers last for 2-3 weeks, giving you a good window, and prepared bulbs take 12-14 weeks to flower. Some varieties take a little less – ‘Anna Marie’ typically blooms in 10 weeks – so check the packaging or online description. Heat and light levels will also affect the process, so it’s a smart idea to stagger planting over a couple of weeks. Not only does this increase the odds of timing holiday flowers just right, plants at multiple development stages adds to the fragrance.

3. Decide if You Want to Grow in Water or Soil

You can force Christmas hyacinths in water or potting soil, and your choice isn’t just down to aesthetics.

If you’re planning on throwing your bulbs once they’re done flowering, growing them in water is super-stylish and elegant. It's hygienic, too, if you’ll be using the living blooms as table decorations, and the visible roots adding another layer of interest. If you plan to plant your hyacinths outdoors for border blooms year after year, though, it’s best to grow them in soil.

In water, you’ll need glass forcing vases such as these from Amazon, with a narrower waist that holds bulbs above the water line. You can also force hyacinth bulbs in any shallow glass vase like this from Amazon, half-filled with pebbles to keep the bulbs from rotting in the water. Using pebbles also means you can use old mason jars.

To grow bulbs in soil, you need excellent drainage so use a potting mix intended for cacti and succulents like Hoffman Organic Cactus & Succulent Soil Mix, available from Walmart, or coco coir such as these Organic Coco Coir Pellets from Amazon. Any planter is fine as long as it’s twice as deep as the bulbs are high. A drainage hole isn’t essential, so many folk choose to use pretty bowls or upcycled tins as planters.

4. Set the Bulbs

The outer skin of hyacinth bulbs contains microscopic sharp calcium oxalate crystals, so always wear gloves to handle them.

In soil, first dampen the potting mix and add a layer to the base of the container. Place the flat base of the bulbs on the soil so their pointed ends are uppermost. As long as the bulbs don’t touch each other or the side of the planter, you can pack them in closely. Tuck more just-moist compost around the bulbs, leaving the ‘nose’ or the top quarter of the bulbs exposed.

In water, fill your vase or container of pebbles up with water to a level where it will sit just under the bulb. The bulb shouldn’t touch the water but the gap should only be ⅛–¼ inch. Place the bulb, pointed end up, in the vase cradle or on the pebbles.

5. Store in a Cool, Dark Place

Stand in a cool, dark but frost-free shed or garage, putting pots or vases in black polythene bags to keep out the light if needs be, for 10-12 weeks. The ideal temperature will be 42-48°F. Check bulbs regularly, topping up the water so the level says just beneath the bulb base in a glass vase or so the soil is just-moist in a pot. You’ll soon spot root growth in vases and, by December, you should see shoots coming from the top of the bulb in both vases and pots. Don't be alarmed that they're yellow – that results from the lack of light and leaves will soon green up.

6. Move the Bulbs Indoors

When those top shoots are around 2 inches high, carefully move your vases or pots indoors. Don’t place them into a hot room or bright sunlight straight away or the shock may stop the bulbs flowering. Instead, put them in a cool room out of direct sunlight – the back of a north-facing room is ideal. Once the leaves have greened up, gradually shift them into warmer, sunnier conditions.

Keep the water topped up as before, but there’s no need to feed the bulbs. Giving the pot or vase a quarter-turn every couple of days will keep the stems growing straight up, as hyacinths have a tendency to lean towards the light, when the top-heavy stems will need staking.

7. Control the Blooming Period

The warmer and lighter the conditions, the faster the bulbs will flower, allowing you to influence when they bloom and get the timing just right for the holidays. To slow blooming down, move hyacinths to a cool spot that falls to 50-60°F at night, out of direct sunlight. Do make sure the plant still gets plenty of indirect light, though, or the stem will stretch and weaken as it searches for more sunshine.

The flowers at the base of the cluster will open first, with blooming progressing upwards over a week to 10 days. Once blooms begin to open, keeping your plant away from hot radiators and fires and direct sun will steady the process and you can expect your hyacinth to last in full flower for a couple of weeks.

And there you have it, beautiful blooms for the holidays, ready to decorate with whatever you fancy to fit in with your Christmas decor.

How to Replant a Forced Hyacinth Outdoors

If you want to plant your soil-grown hyacinth outside once it’s done blooming, you’ll need to help it replace energy stores in its bulb. Keep the plant on a warm, sunny windowsill and keep it watered, cutting off the flower spike at the base once it fades to stop it wasting energy on seed production. It will take around two months for the foliage to wither, and don’t be tempted to cut them off or braid them, because the plant needs all its leafy solar panels to generate energy.

Gradually reduce watering and once the leaves are fully brown, remove the bulb from the pot, brush off any soil and pull or cut off the foliage. Leave to air dry in a warm but shady spot for a week, then once fully dry pop the bulb into a brown paper bag and store in a cool, dark, dry spot. Plant in October at a depth of two or three times the height of the bulb, and expect flowers next spring.