Oh yes. I love hyacinths. One year I did the bulbs in the fridge thing, potted them up, and grew them on the windowsill. They were deep blue/violet and smelled SO good. I should do that again.

Yeah, I know it's not roses, but I agree: nothing quite like the scent of hyacinths first thing in the Spring. I have started a bulb meadow with the old French Roman hyacinths and species narcissus. Here's a pic from last year, when the planting was two years old. The narcissus were just beginning to bloom, but I didn't get a later pic when they were really looking good. They should be even better this year.

Mauvegirl - I did exactly the same!!! I've never planted Hyacinths before, but I've been so void of fragrance, I grabbed two at Lowes this weekend and planted them today. I can smell them as I walk by, and the bees have come out of no-where and are buzzing around them already. I think I'll go back and grab some more, they're such an emotional lift.

Do they stay as singles, or do what many bulbs do and get to the point where they can be divided?

Dear Fig your pic is lovely. Are the flowers in the foreground heliobores'?
I just receiveed my first as a gift and am loving it. Hope it survives the transplant outdoors. I must research the care of these plants.
Jeannie

Isn't it wonderful how fragrant so many of the earliest bloomers are? I am convinced they are the ones that stir the rest of the garden plants, including the roses, to life in the spring. Hyacinths can be had very cheaply if you order in the fall from a supplier such as Van Engelen: 25 bulbs for $16.75. Fig, your bulb meadow is magical. I like the elegance of the Roman hyacinth. It looks like there could be rose canes in the background? A rambler would be pretty there.

Fig, that is exquisite. I wish I could do bulbs down here.

Beautiful picture, Figinsanity. I am gradually planting a wooded area with only white flowers (mostly) your photo has inspired me to loosen up a little.

Cath

Fig, your bulb meadow is just magical looking--I can envision a few fairies flitting about, maybe an elf or two. Your hellebores just add to the delightful setting. We'd love more photos if you have them. Diane

Hyacinths are the most important Christmas flowers in Sweden, there will be no Christmas without these forced bulbs. I plant out the bulbs in spring and they flower for a few years but get smaller every year. I have had the best luck with Delft's Blue, a garden hyacinth that is more permanent. It spreads very sparsely, at least in the 15 years I've had it in my garden.

Hyacinths love my garden, but then mice love the hyacinths, so I lined a little bed with sheet metal and planted my bulbs there. They not only come back year after year but seed as well--I know this because I now have at least one plant that grows outside the protected bed, and because I have one pale pink young hyacinth, a color I never planted. I know, I'm bragging, but what a pleasure to have these bulbs permanent in the garden.
The hyacinths won't be blooming until April. Right now the sarcococca is wafting its fragrance about, now that the snow that buried it has finally melted. And there's a green scent in the air.
figinsanity, your garden is beautiful.