When I saw the hyacinth bulb this morning in my sister's kitchen, I thought of a poem I heard some years ago.   How did that go? Off to the Internet, which, as it tends to do, led me to a whole garden of information.

When we think of hyacinths, what first comes to mind is the Dutch hyacinth, a collection of hybrids that come from Hyacinthus orientalis, which according to the Sunset Western Garden Book is a Mediterranean native. These beauties grow to about a foot tall; have tightly packed blooms in various colors from white, through pinks, salmons and blues to purple; and emit a wonderful perfume. They can be grown in all zones of the USA except Hawaii, but are treated as annuals except where winters are cold enough to really chill the bulbs.

Among other hyacinths are those native to the south of France (Hyacinthus orientalis albulus), which are smaller than the Dutch hybrids and do well year after year in zones 4-24 without needing a winter chill. There is also the wood hyacinth Hyacinthoides, (also known as bluebells)a taller plant with looser flower clusters. The Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica /Scilla campanulata) is the only wood hyacinth that does well in our California lowlands. And finally, we have the grape hyacinth (Hyacinthella azurea/Muscari azureum), which is actually from a different genus entirely (Asparagaceae). The grape hyacinth can successfully be naturalized and will pop up year after year in your garden as a happy little harbinger of spring.

The name hyacinth has a very interesting legend behind it. According to Greek mythology, Hyacinthus was a beautiful young god and lover of Apollo. As the two were out throwing the discus one day, Hyacinthus decided to impress Apollo by running and catching Apollo's throw. (Please note, the discus is not a Frisbee, but rather a 4.4-pound stone disc thrown in field competitions.) As Hyacinthus attempted to catch the stone, it hit him in the head and killed him. A variation on this theme is that Zephyrus, god of the west wind, was also enamored of Hyacinthus and jealous of his relationship with Apollo. It was Zephyrus' blowing of the discus off its intended course then that caused it to kill Hyacinthus. Either way, Apollo, in his grief, made a flower of Hyacinthus' blood so that he would never be completely lost.

A curious aside: Mozart's first opera was Apollo et Hyacinthus. The young composer was 11 years old when he wrote it.

And, oh, yes! The poem....

"If, of thy mortal goods, thou art bereft,

And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,

Sell one, and from the dole

Buy hyacinths to feed the soul."

-Muslihuddin Sadi,

13th Century Persian Poet

You will find hyacinths now in your garden nursery or catalog.