Hyacinth ‘Gipsy Queen’ (aka ‘Gypsy Queen’) has a wonderful fragrance with lovely coral flowers.
‘Gipsy Queen’ won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit and grows about 10 inches tall.
Outside the plants will bloom in mid-spring in full sun to part-shade. But these bulbs are extremely easy to force. Just pot them up (leave the tops of the bulbs showing), water them in and stick them in a refrigerator crisper drawer for 12-15 weeks. Just make sure you don’t have any apples in your refrigerator or the ethylene they give off will decay the flower bulbs. And during the forcing period, check on them from time to time to make sure the soil hasn’t dried out. If it has, give them a drink.
Four hyacinth bulbs nestle nicely into a 6-inch pot. I planted mine on November 1st and took them out of the refrigerator in mid-February. If you force several pots, you can stagger when you bring them out so you can extend the total blooming period.
Once they are out of the refrigerator give them a few days to get used to the light. I usually leave them in the dark basement for a day or two and then transfer them to a north-facing window for an extra day before introducing them to a sunny window.
The flowers will last 2-3 weeks and will fill your room with the sweet scent of spring!