Earth and Space News: garden hyacinth Hyacinthus orientalis

Showing posts with label garden hyacinth Hyacinthus orientalis. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

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; Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 10:17: BKP, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, 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 Unported, 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; Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 10:17: BKP, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:140409_Keukenhof_01.JPG

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

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Hyacinthus orientalis: Fragrant and Vibrant Spring Flowers of Garden Hyacinth

Summary: Hyacinthus orientalis, commonly known as Dutch hyacinth, or garden hyacinth, is an Old World native that is cultivated globally as an early spring bloomer.

Hyacinthus orientalis; Friday, March 21, 2008, 14:39: Lukas Kaffer (S.lukas), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Hyacinthus orientalis is an Old World perennial in the asparagus family, Asparagaceae, native to western Asia.

Hyacinthus orientalis especially claims exotic homelands in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.

Introduced into Europe around the sixteenth century, Hyacinthus orientalis has gained worldwide popularity for cultivation in containers and in-ground gardens as a fragrant, vibrant early spring bloomer.

Hyacinthus orientalis is known commonly as common hyacinth, Dutch hyacinth and garden hyacinth.

Garden hyacinth sprouts from a cream- or light purple-colored bulb.

Foliage grows as strap-shaped, basal leaves.

The stem of Hyacinthus orientalis emerges as a spike amidst the leafy greenery.

The stiff stem is laden with sessile (Latin: sessilis, "resting on the surface, sitting") flowers that unfurl directly from the stem rather than attach to the stem by way of a pedicel (Latin: pediculus, "footstalk, little foot"), or stalk.

Flowers open with tubular grace, ending in six recurving petals. The fragrant, showy flowers present a pleasing palette of colors, including various shades of blue, pink, purple, red, white or yellow.

Spent flowers should be removed immediately to discourage seed production.

In the wild, seed dispersal may be accomplished through myrmecochory (Ancient Greek: μύρμηξ, múrmēks, “ant”), that is, by way of ants. In this symbiotic ant-plant relationship, ants feed elaiosome (Ancient Greek: ἔλαιον, élaion, “olive oil” + σόμα, sóma, “body”), a fleshy, white structure attached to the black seeds, to their larvae and assign the seeds to a waste disposal area where the seeds germinate.

Garden hyacinth's bulb contains oxalic acid, which provokes skin irritations and toxic, possibly fatal, reactions such as diarrhea and vomiting in humans.

Wearing gloves and washing hands afterward are urged for handling garden hyacinth's bulbs.

Mammals and pets may become seriously ill from unknowingly consuming hyacinth bulbs, which they normally avoid.

The Royal Horticultural Society, founded in London, England, in 1804, has bestowed its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM), which recognizes excellence in garden performance, upon 21 cultivars of Hyacinthus orientalis.

In 1993, seven cultivars received the award: ‘Anna Marie,’ ‘Blue Jacket,’ ‘City of Haarlem,’ ‘Delft Blue,’ ‘Gipsy Queen,’ ‘L’Innocence’ and ‘Ostara'.

In 2008, eight cultivars were recognized: ‘Blue Festival,’ ‘Hollyhock,’ ‘Jan Bos,’ ‘Miss Saigon,’ ‘Paul Hermann,’ ‘Pink Festival,’ ‘White Festival’ and ‘Yellow Queen.'

In 2012, six cultivars were honored: ‘Aida,’ ‘Chicago,’ ‘Dynasty,’ ‘Fairy White,’ ‘Pink Angel’ and ‘Royal Navy.’

Wild hyacinths grace the north side of the box elder tree (Acer negundo) that arches across the curving, gravel driveway onto my yard. Twelve spikes soften spring's green vivacity with deep, gentle blues. One spike bears 10 flowers while eight flowers apiece adorn 10 spikes. The shortest spike proudly lifts up three budding trumpets.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Hyacinthus orientalis; Friday, March 21, 2008, 14:39: Lukas Kaffer (S.lukas), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hyacinthus_orientalis_(S.lukas).JPG

garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis), gouache on vellum by Hamburg flower painter Hans-Simon Holtzbecker (1610/20-March 21, 1671); Gottorfer Codex, vol. 1 (1649-1659): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gc20_hyacinthos_orientalis.jpg

For further information:

Chapman, Baylor. The Plant Recipe Book. New York NY: Artisan, 2014.