Aside from picking the perfect spot and getting your watering routine down, knowing how to overwinter your plants is the secret sauce to keeping them healthy and vibrant for years to come. When it comes to hyacinths, there are a few specific tricks you need to know. The amount of effort required really depends on whether you’re keeping them indoors or out in the garden. Let’s dive into the details!
Getting Your Hyacinths Ready for Winter
With most flowers, you just keep on with your regular routine after the blooms fade, but hyacinths are a bit more high-maintenance. After putting all that energy into those gorgeous flowers, the plant is pretty wiped out and needs a solid eight-week nap. During this rest period, you’ll want to keep the bulb in a cool (40°F to 48°F) and dark spot. A little bit of liquid fertilizer during this phase helps the plant recharge its batteries.
After those two months are up, stop the fertilizer and water completely. Now comes the most important part: stratification. Without a proper “cold treatment,” your hyacinth simply won’t bloom again next year.
Overwintering Hyacinths in the Garden
If your hyacinths are in a garden bed, nature does the hard work for you! Stratification happens automatically outdoors. You can leave the bulbs right in the ground, and the winter frost actually triggers the plant to start growing again when spring hits.
Pro Tip: If you’ve just planted fresh bulbs this autumn, give them a little extra love for their first winter. A thin layer of mulch or dried leaves will protect them if the temperatures take a serious nose-dive.
Overwintering Potted Hyacinths Indoors
Hyacinths grown in pots aren’t quite as hardy as their garden cousins. In the fall, you’ll need to dig them up and keep them in their pots indoors. Store the bulb in a cool, dark place—I usually recommend covering them with a little paper “hat” or cone to keep the light out. Since they aren’t in the ground, you have to simulate winter yourself. On frosty nights, you can set the pots out on the patio, or simply clear some space in your refrigerator to give them that necessary cold snap.
Getting Ready for Spring
After spending so much time in the dark, hyacinths are a bit sensitive, so you’ll want to ease them back into the spring sunshine gradually. Once you see that first peek of green growth, your hyacinth is ready to leave its winter home and move wherever you’d like. This is also the perfect time to transplant the bulbs back into your garden if you want them to join your outdoor flower beds!
