How to plant hyacinth bulbs in Phoenix, Arizona

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Hyacinths do great in the Phoenix, Arizona area. In fact, they do great in any southwestern city, from here to Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles. They bloom in the winter! I've had them here, on and off, at the Tropical Paradise in Glendale (a suburb of Phoenix) for over twenty years, and I've learned a few tricks that makes things easier for me.

First of all, wait until the weather cools off, just a bit. No, you don't have to wait until winter, but at least wait until fall. It's September 27th as I'm planting this morning, and it was in the 70s in the morning, but it's still getting to about 100 during the day. But that's fine - by the time your hyacinth plants start to really grow, in a week or so, the weather will be just perfect. So the lesson here is to not plant them too early in the season, or the little plants will burn up, but don't wait too long, as you'll want them to have enough size to bloom in the cooler months, which will be November, December, and January.

I bought 2 packages (which had four bulbs) at Home Depot for five dollars each. You don't need to order anything elaborate online, unless of course you want to. I'd recommend you don't buy bulbs at your local dollar store, but Home Depot is just fine. No, they don't pay me to mention them here in my blog, I'm just glad that they have them.

Before I plant I've learned to mark. That is, I stand back, and put little markers where I think the plants will do their best. I also use the markers after I plant so I remember where I planted. I dig a hole using a sharp gardening knife. You want it to be deep, but it doesn't have to be wide.

Plant hyacinth bulb 3" deep

The instructions that come with the plant are so generalized that they're really useless. Luckily, you can find out more precise stuff on the internet. The first question is: "how deep to plant?", and the answer is three inches. I dig down to about four inches, sprinkle in some dry plant fertilizer, sprinkle back in some soil at the base, and drop the bulb in.


Plant the hyacinth bulb pointy-size up, 3" deep.

The pointy end of the bulb goes up. I wish the instructions had this, but they really don't. I like basic instructions, but no one asks me. Anyway, then I gently put in some fresh potting soil, cover it back up, move some rocks in nearby, and put the marker back in, slightly behind the bulb.

Marker showing the location of the planted bulb.

I then water it in well, and move on to the next bulb. The plant will start growing in just a few weeks, so I'll be watching compulsively every day, and it will bloom in the winter, at about the time my winter visitors will stop by, hopefully with some beer.

They'll be beautiful, and they smell great!

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