With the right care, a hyacinth can brighten up your garden every year for up to 15 years! The secret to that longevity lies in how you handle the bulb once the blooming season is over. If you want to keep your flowers coming back stronger than ever, here’s everything you need to know about storing them properly.
My Hyacinths Have Faded—Now What?
Generally speaking, hyacinths planted in the ground are pretty hardy. However, if you want to play it safe and overwinter the bulbs indoors, here’s your post-bloom game plan:
- For the first few weeks after the flowers fade, stop watering and fertilizing. Don’t prune them yet, either!
- Only remove parts of the plant that are clearly dead.
- Wait until the leaves turn completely yellow before cutting them back.
- Carefully dig up the bulb.
- Brush off any excess soil and let the bulbs dry out for a few days.
Pro Tip: Hyacinth bulbs can actually handle frozen ground quite well. What they *don’t* like is soggy, wet soil during mild winters, which can lead to mold and rot. If you decide to leave them in the garden, make sure you have good drainage in place.
Storage Tips for Success
The best home for your bulbs is a cool, dry spot—think a garage or a basement. While you want them dry, you don’t want them to shrivel up completely, so it’s a good idea to slightly boost the humidity every now and then. And of course, keep an eye out for any signs of mold.
You don’t need potting soil for storage. Instead, a little “bedding” made of natural materials works wonders. Try using:
- Wood wool
- Straw
- Peat moss
- Or sand
Alternatively, you can just wrap the bulbs in newspaper. This is a great way to make sure the individual bulbs aren’t touching each other, which helps prevent the spread of rot.
Getting Ready to Replant
Spring is the ideal time to get those hyacinths back in the dirt. But don’t just take them straight from the basement to the garden! To get them to actually bloom, they need about eight weeks of “stratification.” Basically, hyacinths need a cold snap after their rest period to wake up.
Luckily, this is super easy to do. Just set the bulbs out on your patio for a while—cold nights won’t hurt them. If you’d rather keep them inside, you can even clear out a spot in the refrigerator. That chilly environment is exactly what the bulbs need to kickstart their next beautiful bloom cycle.
