“If I could grow only one hyacinth,” wrote Rand Lee in The American Cottage Gardener, “it would be this.” He praised its “luminous” apricot color, the “melon undertone” of its “considerable fragrance,” and “best of all” how it “naturalizes effortlessly” in his dry, zone-6a Santa Fe garden. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This blush-white, 18th-century beauty is the oldest traditional hyacinth we’ve ever offered — by far. New York’s Linnaean Botanic Garden nursery offered it by 1830, and in 1894 the prestigious Garden and Forest magazine ranked it as still one of the best, with “large thick bells” of “a charming rosy or blush white.” By the 1950s it was thought to be extinct, but it was preserved by a small botanic garden in Lithuania and after the fall of the Iron Curtain a few bulbs made their way to our friend Alan Shipp in England — and eventually to us. 10-12”, zones 5-7S/9WC, from England. Chart to compare. Last offered web-only in 2012. Although we hope to offer this rarity again in 2013, availability can’t be confirmed until June. Please check back then or subscribe to our email newsletter.

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.

Small and cute, with double, pug-faced florets of vivid rose, ‘Hollyhock’ is unmistakably antique. Always last to bloom, it extends the fragrant season. 8-10”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Although most hyacinths today are a bit stout, this fabulous ‘King’ retains the narrow, pillar-like shape that was the norm long ago. Its amazing color, though, is what has preserved it — a deep, rich, dark purple that’s as satisfying as the darkest choclolate. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from the UK National Collection. Chart to compare.

A favorite for almost 150 years, this warm white is one of the most perennial hyacinths in our garden and extra easy to force. Our impossibly easy, paper-bag-in-the-fridge instructions will show you how. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare. Last offered in 2012. Although we hope to offer this rarity again in 2013, availability can’t be confirmed until June. Please check back then or subscribe to our email newsletter.

This grandmotherly, soft pink ‘Lady’ mingles happily with everything, and it’s so easy to force that everyone should try it. Take a look at our impossibly easy, paper-bag-in-the-fridge instructions to see what we mean. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. 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.

An intricately carved ivory relic, a flurry of fat snowflakes, a bed piled high with down pillows – that’s double ‘Madame Sophie’. How can white look so voluptuous? 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Our customers love ‘Marie.’ A deep, rich indigo purple, it’s the oldest traditional hyacinth still grown in Dutch bulb fields today – and superb. Of the 84 hyacinths offered in Vaughan’s 1897 catalog, only two survive: ‘King of the Blues’ and even older, darker ‘Marie’. 10-12”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.