With long outer petals that swoop back and curl like those of a turk’s-cap lily, and shorter inner petals crimped into a squiggly rosette, this is one of the most interesting — and rarest — of the Victorian doubles. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from the British National Collection. Chart to compare.

The embodiment of spring’s silvery blue skies, this heavenly hyacinth is old enough to have been grown by Florence Nightingale and Charles Dickens. Lost to us years ago when it went “commercially extinct” in the Netherlands, it has been preserved by our good friend (and former potato farmer) Alan Shipp of the British National Collection of Hyacinths. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from England. Chart to compare.

One of our all-time favorite hyacinths, ‘Lord Balfour’ is an unusual, old-fashioned color that’s hard to describe but easy to love. It’s officially “wine-colored violet,” but we’d call it “old rose shading to silver” or maybe “raspberries at twilight touched with frost.” We were heart-broken when it went commercially extinct in 1999, but thanks to Alan Shipp of the UK National Collection it’s back! Exceptionally rare, zones 5-7bS/9WC. Chart to compare.

Black is beautiful, and this astonishing hyacinth – named in honor of the Victorian king of Ethiopia – is an intense indigo-purple shading to absolute BLACK. Though it went commercially extinct in Holland in 2001, every now and then we get a handful of bulbs from Alan Shipp of the UK National Collection. 10-12”, zones 5-7S/9WC, from England. Chart to compare.

The unusual, old-fashioned color of this rare hyacinth sets it apart. It’s a misty puplish-rose, deeper in the center of the petals, paler at the edges, like raspberry ice cream swirled with raspberry sorbet. 8-10”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from the UK National Collection of Hyacinths. Chart to compare.

Cinnamon-scented and multiplying eagerly year after year, this pale pink cousin of our ‘Roman Blue’, is equally wonderful. Like all Romans it’s a little less cold-hardy than other hyacinths, but its wildflowery grace and rich fragrance can’t be beat. And did we mention it multiplies? 8-10”, zones 6-8aS/10WC, from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart to compare.