The Hyacinths of Spring, and a Perfume

As those Alert Gardeners who have kindly followed my blog for awhile know, I always have a pot of hyacinths on my writing desk in springtime. The incomparable scent fills the whole house, and I know that spring has sprung! They change markedly over a few days time, and each stage is wondrous:

Fresh from the florist- this is as neat and tidy as they get, very little scent yet....

Here's the full bloom, with a greener, more floral scent. Starting to scent the house!

A couple days later, and the heavy blossoms have drooped over the side. The scent is even more powerful, with a touch of salt and indoles.
My favorite hyacinth perfume is Serge Lutens Bas de Soie, (Christopher Sheldrake, 2010) which really captures the early phase of the blooms. It's kind of the mean green phase. If you know of one that highlights the later phase with that swoony, salty, indolic richness, let me know in a comment!

My Favorite Winter Ritual

One of my favorite winter pleasures is growing hyacinths in forcing vases, which used to be called "hyacinth glasses", centuries ago....

The delicate colors and intense fragrances are extraordinary, and particularly comforting in the depths of winter. Now of course, winter on my sand dune is not really too bad. In Northern Europe, though, after months of slippery ice, snow shoveling, and drear, I learned to love these flowers....

"Hyacinth in Winter", MR, 2014

The one above bloomed white, and had an intensely sweet, tropical scent, but of course I can't resist the pinks! The pinks seem to have a spicier perfume, but maybe that's just my imagination.

"Pink Hyacinth" MR, 2014

After they are done blooming, I plant them outside, and they generally keep growing. Some people throw the bulbs away, but I like to keep them, as they've given me so much happiness and beauty.