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. Zones 5-8aS/10W, from England. Chart to compare.

The double, pug-faced rosettes of this pint-sized beauty make it look decidely antique. Its vivid, deep rose color was a favorite of the Victorians. Always the last to bloom, it extends the fragrant season. 8-10 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Last fall this fabulously dark ‘King’ was harvested in the Netherlands for the very last time, but happily we’d been forewarned years ago and asked Alan Shipp of the British National Collection to start building up stock for us. Much too good to let go extinct, the ‘King’ is unusually old, with distinctively slim spikes of a deep, rich, dark purple that’s as satisfying as the darkest chocolate. 10-12 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from England. Chart to compare.

A favorite since Civil War days, pure white ‘L’Innocence’ is one of the most perennial hyacinths in our garden and so easy to force that everyone should try it. Click here for our impossibly easy, paper-bag-in-the-fridge instructions. 10-12 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This grandmotherly, soft pink ‘Lady’ mingles cheerfully with just about everthing in the garden, and it’s extra easy to force. Click here for our impossibly easy, paper-bag-in-the-fridge technique. 10-12 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from Holland. 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 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, 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 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Black is beautiful, and this astonishing hyacinth – named in honor of the Victorian king of Ethiopia and quite possibly the most exciting hyacinth we’ve ever offered – 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. Zones 5-7S/9W, from England. We’re not sure we’ll be able to offer this rare variety in fall 2010. To stay informed, subscribe to our free email newsletter.

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 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from the UK National Collection of Hyacinths. Chart to compare.

Cherished since colonial days, this graceful, richly fragrant wildflower MULTIPLIES happily year after year into ever more beautiful clumps. It’s the original H. orientalis, and though our Texas-grown bulbs are still bulking up, these from the Hortus Bulborum are absolutely authentic. Like all Roman hyacinths they’re a willowy 8-10 inches tall and slightly less cold-hardy than other hyacinths: zones 6-8aS/10W. Chart to compare.