Garden Hyacinth in Flower Baskets: Hyacinthus orientalis at Keukenhof

Summary: Garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) prettifies indoor and outdoor environments. Keukenhof Park in Europe showcases garden hyacinth as potted plants.

garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) in flower basket at Keukenhof Park, northwestern Netherlands: BKP, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) is a bulbous spring perennial blooming in pleasant shades of blue, pink, purple, red, white and yellow. Its fragrant, tubular flowers end distinctively in six recurving petals.

Garden hyacinth is also known commonly in English as common hyacinth or Dutch hyacinth.

Its common name of Dutch hyacinth reflects the Old World native's popularity in the Netherlands.

Garden hyacinth is native to the eastern Mediterranean, with exotic homelands in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.

Garden hyacinth has found favor in Europe since its introduction in the 16th century. Welcomed into the Low Country's highly successful floral production industry, Dutch hyacinth dazzles in auctions as well as in public and private gardens.

Keukenhof Park, known as the Garden of Europe, is a floral park of 79 acres (32 hectares) in the northwestern Netherlands renowned for its spectacular floral exhibitions.

Keukenhof Park's spring display showcases such beloved spring bloomers as garden hyacinth, grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) and tulips (Tulipa ssp.). The aesthetic arrangement and the pleasing design palette of these spring bloomers provide stunning contrasts and gorgeous harmonies for their profuse, showy flowers.

Mass plantings wind vividly through garden and woodland landscapes at Keukenhof.

The famous blue river of grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) serves as a mesmerizing tribute to floral impacts in natural and planned landscapes. Keukenhof's blue river of grape hyacinth synchronizes with resplendent sinuosities of multi-colored tulips and also finds expression in similarly graceful curvings of Dutch hyacinth in its full spectrum of color shades.

Garden hyacinth finds glorious display at Keukenhof not only as in-ground mass plantings but also as potted plants. Huge, circular pots serve as flower baskets for hundreds of blooming Dutch hyacinth plants. Occasionally the breathtaking expanse of striking floral coloration is interrupted by bright green peekings of the vibrant plant's strap-shaped leaves.

The showy versatility of garden hyacinth at Keukenhof Park emphasizes the spring bloomer's capacity for creating a splendid spectacle via intricate or simplistic plantings. Flower basket displays at Keukenhof confirm that garden hyacinth sparkles in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Just as in-ground plantings of garden hyacinth effect an elegant transformation in a large- or small-sized home garden, so also do in-container displays finesse outdoor structures such as gazebos, patios and walkways.

Garden hyacinth also prettifies indoor home settings as potted plants and as cut flowers.

If you plan to visit Keukenhof Park:

opening dates 2015: March 20th to May 17th

opening dates 2016: March 24 to May 16; hours: 8:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Contact information:

website: http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/plan-your-visit/practical-information/

email: info@keukenhof.nl

reception desk telephone: +31(0)252-465555

topographic map of Lisse, with Keukenhof identified (upper center): Janwillemvanaalst, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) in flower basket at Keukenhof Park, northwestern Netherlands: BKP, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:140409_Keukenhof_01.JPG

topographic map of Lisse: Janwillemvanaalst, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012-Top10AHNBAG-Gem-Lisse.jpg

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "Early Spring Colors in the Yard: Blue, Lavender, Purple, Yellow." Wizzley > Plants & Gardening > Plants. April 13, 2014.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/early-spring-colors-in-the-yard-blue-lavender-purple-yellow/

Marriner, Derdriu. "Hyacinthus orientalis: Fragrant and Vibrant Spring Flowers of Garden Hyacinth." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/hyacinthus-orientalis-fragrant-and.html