The Dutch florists have nearly two thousand varieties.
The distinguishing marks of a good hyacinth are clear bright colors,
free from clouding or sporting, broad bold petals, full, large and
perfectly doubled, sufficiently revolute to give the whole mass a degree
of convexity: the stem strong and erect and the foot stalks horizontal
at the base, gradually taking an angle upwards as they approach the
crown, so as to place the flowers in a pyramidical form, occupying about
one-half the length of the stem.
The _Amethyst colored Hyacinth_, H. amethystimus, is a fine handsome
flower, varying in shade from pale blue to purple, and having bell
shaped flowers, but the foot stalks are generally not strong and they
are apt to become pendulous.
The _Garden Hyacinth_, H. orientalis, _Sumbul, abrood_, is the handsomer
variety, the flowers being trumpet shaped, very double and of varying
colors--pink, red, blue, white, or yellow, and originally of eastern
growth. It flowers in February and has considerable fragrance.
_Propagation_.--In Europe this is sometimes performed by seed, but as
this requires to be put into the ground as soon as possible after
ripening, and moreover takes a long time to germinate, this method would
hardly answer in this country, which must therefore, at least for the
present, depend upon imported bulbs and offsets.
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