Heirloom Hyacinth Bulbs

Bursting with extra petals, double hyacinths were once the most prized. Rediscover their antique charms with this sampler of 3 unique jewels: ‘Madame Sophie’, ‘Chestnut Flower’, and ‘General Kohler’. Save the Doubles! For zones 5a-8a(10bWC).

For 2, 3, or more of each, order additional samplers. Hyacinth care.

Sample the rich colors and fragrances of these under-appreciated treasures. Easy to force and great in the garden in zones 5a-8a(10bWC). We’ll send five different singles, our choice, all terrific!

For 2, 3, or more of each, order additional samplers. Hyacinth care.

Mauve? Lavender-pink? Soft rosy violet? Although ‘Anna Liza’s color may be hard to describe, it’s distinct and beautiful. And though it’s not very old, true stock is increasingly hard to find – so here it is! 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

The starry, overstuffed florets of this Victorian double are a lovely “dawn pink.” Though double hyacinths were once the most sought after (learn more), today only a handful survive – and ‘Chestnut Flower’ is one of the best. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

The wonderfully soft, baby-chick yellow of ‘City of Haarlem’ makes every hyacinth rainbow lovelier. Named for the bulb district’s grandest city, ‘Haarlem’ has been a favorite for well over a century. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

The opulent, lavender-blue bells of this rare double look as if they’ve been sculpted out of Bavarian sugar-frosting. Once discarded as freaks, double hyacinths rocketed into vogue in the early 1700s and remained the world’s most popular bulb for 150 years. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart, care, and learn more.

“If I could grow only one hyacinth,” wrote Rand Lee in The American Cottage Gardener, “it would be this.” He praised its “luminous” apricot color, the “melon undertone” of its “considerable fragrance,” and how it “naturalizes effortlessly” in his dry, zone-6a Santa Fe garden. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

Like all true Roman hyacinths, this soft pink charmer is fragrant, graceful, and – maybe best of all – it will multiply into a clump that gets bigger and more beautiful every year. A little less cold-hardy than regular hyacinths – zones 6a-8a(10bWC), 8-10”, from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart and care.

After decades of searching, we’d all but given up hope of ever offering true white Roman hyacinths, but our prayers were finally answered by the Hortus Bulborum! Once so popular they were exported by the millions from the south of France, white Romans are graceful, deliciously fragrant, slightly less cold-hardy than regular hyacinths – zones 6a-8a(10bWC), 8-10”, from the Hortus Bulborum– and they multiply eagerly! Chart and care.

Soft, silvery blue tinted with lavender, ‘Sky Jacket’ glows when touched by spring sunlight. Although nearly 2500 acres of hyacinths are grown in the Netherlands, only 5 are devoted to this once leading variety. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

Tests at Cornell University rated this mid-century beauty one of the ten best hyacinths for perennializing, and – unlike older, widely available, but scentless ‘Carnegie’ – it smells good! 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

“Blue giants” are the brightest stars in the universe, and the radiant, pearly-blue flowers of this Depression-era classic make it a worthy namesake. We’ve also found it extra easy to force. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

An intricately carved ivory relic, a flurry of fat snowflakes, a bed piled high with down pillows – that’s double ‘Madame Sophie’. How can white look so voluptuous? 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart, care, and learn more. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

One of our most sought-after bulbs, this graceful, cinnamon-scented wildflower multiplies happily year after year. It’s been passed along since colonial days, and though counterfeits are rife, ours from the Hortus Bulborum are 100% true. Slightly less cold-hardy than regular hyacinths – zones 6a-8a(10bWC), 8-10”. Chart and care. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Favorites of the Victorians, so-called “red” hyacinths like this ‘Fire Beacon’ are actually deep, deep rose – the Tyrian purple of ancient times – and offer a dramatic counterpoint to spring’s many pastels. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from Holland. Chart and care. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

We were shocked when the last Dutch grower abandoned this great Victorian favorite, because in our garden it returns and reblooms better than any other hyacinth. Now thanks to Alan Shipp, the Noah of hyacinths, it’s back! 10-12”, zones 5a-7b(9bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

The rarest hyacinth we’ve ever offered, this extraordinary relic was preserved by a small botanic garden in Lithuania. Although its name was lost ages ago, it looks a lot like ‘Ophir’ pictured in Robert Sweet’s The Florist’s Guide and Cultivator’s Directory of 1827-32, and it’s tall and late-blooming like ‘Ophir’ was. “I can’t be 100% certain,” expert Alan Shipp told us, “but as yellow hyacinths didn’t appear until about 1770, and there were never more than a few double yellows, chances are this really is ‘Ophir’.” Whatever its name, we’re thrilled to have a very few to offer you! 11-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

With long outer petals that swoop back and curl like those of a turk’s-cap lily, and shorter inner petals crimped into a squiggly rosette, this is one of the most interesting – and rarest – of the Victorian doubles. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from the British National Collection. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

‘Grace Darling’ is named for the brave young daughter of a lighthouse keeper who rowed out with him in a raging storm to rescue shipwreck survivors. Her story captured the imagination of the Victorian age and before long people everywhere were singing songs and hanging lithographs of Grace on their parlor walls. Her namesake hyacinth is a lovely blue-purple, soft but vibrant (how fitting!). Though its date of introduction is unclear, Alan Shipp of the UK National Collection assures us it is “very old.” Zones 5a-7b(9bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Although far from showy, this is the oldest traditional hyacinth available today. Sold in the US by 1830, it was praised in 1894 for its “large thick bells” of “charming rosy or blush white.” By the 1950s it was thought to be extinct but it survived in a small botanic garden in Lithuania, and after the fall of the Iron Curtain a few bulbs made their way to Alan Shipp at the UK National Collection – and eventually here. 10-12”, zones 5a-7b(9bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

The embodiment of spring’s silvery blue skies, this heavenly hyacinth is old enough to have been grown by Florence Nightingale and Charles Dickens. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from our English friend Alan Shipp, the Noah of hyacinths. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Although most hyacinths today are a bit stout, this fabulous ‘King’ retains the narrow, pillar-like shape that was the norm long ago. Its amazing color, though, is what has preserved it – a deep, rich, dark purple that’s as satisfying as the darkest chocolate. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from the UK National Collection. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

A favorite for almost 150 years, this warm white is one of the most perennial hyacinths in our garden and extra easy to force. Our impossibly easy, paper-bag-in-the-fridge instructions will show you how. 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from the UK National Collection. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Our customers send us love-letters about ‘Marie.’ A deep, rich indigo purple, it was one of the oldest traditional hyacinth varieties grown in Dutch bulb fields until 2016 when it went commercially extinct. Lucky for us, Alan Shipp was able to get his hands on a few bulbs and now we're able to offer them to you! 10-12”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from the UK National Collection. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Black is beautiful, and this astonishing hyacinth – named in honor of the Victorian king of Ethiopia – is an intense indigo-purple shading to absolute BLACK. Although it went commercially extinct in Holland in 2001, most years we get a handful of bulbs from Alan Shipp of the UK National Collection. 10-12”, zones 5a-7b(9bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

The unusual, old-fashioned color of this rare hyacinth sets it apart. It’s a misty puplish-rose, deeper in the center of the petals, paler at the edges, like raspberry ice cream swirled with raspberry sorbet. 8-10”, zones 5a-8a(10bWC), from the UK National Collection of Hyacinths. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

A shimmering, silvery blue-purple like antique pewter — or pearls — this Victorian relic was last harvested in the Netherlands in 2000. To preserve it, we sent a boxful of those final bulbs to Alan Shipp, holder of the UK National Collection, and now you can enjoy the happy fruits of our partnership! Learn more. 10-12”, zones 5a-7b(9bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Although this soft, silvery blue charmer went “commercially extinct” in 2009, our friend Alan Shipp of the UK National Collection has been nurturing a small supply of it for us ever since. You’ll be glad you helped him save it! 10-12”, zones 5a-7b(9bWC), from England. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.

Just a bit darker than the blue Romans we get from the Hortus, with slightly wider petals and an almost chocolate-colored stem, this fragrant, steadily multiplying charmer comes to us from Alan Shipp of the UK National Hyacinth Collection. A bit less cold-hardy than regular hyacinths: zones 6a-8a(10bWC), 8-10”. If you’d like to be notified when it’s back in stock, sign up for an email alert.