How to Propagate a Hyacinth

Hyacinths grow from a true bulb. The bulb collects nutrients from the soil and stores the energy and nutrients collected by the foliage. Bulbs use these reserves to fuel the flowering process the next year. As the bulbs grow and mature in the garden, they produce offsets or bulblets. These smaller bulbs are attached to the main bulb until they mature enough to grow into a new plant. Hyacinths are propagated by these bulblets, so a single hyacinth bulb can produces multiple plants within three to four years.

Shears
Trowel

Instructions

- 1
  Cut the foliage off the hyacinth within 3 inches of ground level with shears. Remove the foliage only after it dies back on its own in early summer.
- 2
  Loosen the soil around each hyacinth plant. Lift the bulbs out of the soil.
- 3
  Trim the dead roots off the base of the main bulb. The bulb produces new roots in fall and winter to replace the old, dead ones.
- 4
  Inspect the bulb for offsets, which resemble smaller full bulbs. Large offsets are closer to maturity.
- 5
  Twist the offset gently until it snaps off the main bulb. Leave the smallest offsets on the bulb to continue maturing and remove only the largest ones.
- 6
  Replant the original bulb and the removed offsets. Plant the bulbs so the bottom sits 6 inches beneath the soil surface. Space the bulbs 4 to 6 inches apart.

Blooming Time for Hyacinths

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Bulbs