Pink Pearl Hyacinths, Day 2
Hyacinths, for as long as I can recall, have been my favourite flower. In second place are bright yellow daffodils.
Yesterday, at the huge grocery store where I reluctantly shop, I gave in yet again to my weakness for this flower. I am addicted to its scent, plain and simple. Apart from a strongly aromatic rose, I can’t think of another flower that fills a room with such a delicious scent.
When I was a schoolgirl in London during the ’60s, our teacher, Mr. Walters, had us keep hyacinth bulbs in the dark at home so that we could force them come spring. I have no recollection of the flowers being brought to school, or even bringing the bulbs home, but I do remember going to a dark closet in the hallway where my sleeping hyacinth was kept over the winter. Perhaps this was the start of my hyacinth addiction. Who knows?
Each year, I buy the early budding hyacinths – three to a pot – and place them in the living room. This pot is not our first this year, the first came two weeks ago from our vet’s office after our dog passed away. I found it comforting that the plants that came included three hyacinths.
I have planted hyacinths outside in the garden, but I can’t honestly tell you that they bloom all that well in the spring. They’re usually of short stature, though fragrant enough and I’m often spotted bending over just to inhale that intoxicating scent, which my friend Jane reminds me is just too strong. How can that be? I ask her, but she insists it’s overpowering. I love her, but she’s just soooo wrong!!
Daffodils are a close second as my favourite spring flowers. Their scent is almost as delicious as the hyacinth and they bring back perfect memories of a childhood in Wales, where the daffodil is the official flower. At our old house, we used to have bunches and bunches of daffodils popping up in the garden each year, along with tulips, but the daffs always caught my attention. This fall I must remember to plant more of each of these three flowers.
And on that note, it was just yesterday when I was contemplating what might go in the Victory Garden this year. We’re almost through another winter – and a mild one at that – and soon it’ll be time to decide what to grow. Roll on spring!
