Hyacinths take their place as one of the symbols of spring. Their incredibly delicate looking blooms and intense sweet smell mark these flowers as a favorite for many. They are one of the more well known flowers, because of their unique look and scent. The flowers hang all over a central stem, making a rounded wand of color. Each bloom looks like a tiny trumpet or bell, hanging elegantly from its thin perch. Lovely blossoms can come in shades of blue, pink, red, white, and yellow.
The classification of the hyacinth is currently under debate. According to the new classification system published by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (AGP) in 1998, the hyacinth belongs to the family Hyacinthaceae. The same group revised this statement in 2003 to say that this family actually belonged to the family Asparagaceae as an optional segregate. The hyacinth and many other plants were reclassified based on their genetic structure and the information it provided. This meant that many traditional assumptions about flowers in general were changed. For the hyacinth, this meant leaving the Liliaceae family to which they used to belong. This change is currently under debate among horticulturalists and botanists. Many names among hyacinths which contain some form of the word 'lily', because of their previous membership to that family, still abound.
Hyacinths have been cultivated for a long time. In the nineteenth century these plants were so popular that 2,000 cultivars were produced in the Netherlands alone. This flower remains one of their most popular exports to this day. This long term love affair world wide with the hyacinth has promoted plants in countless different styles. There are hearty large versions, smaller more delicate types, and everything in between. In terms of species, Hyacinthus is a small genera (or part of optional segregate, depending on your opinion of the APG), with only three recognized species currently. Although it only has these species, there are numerous cultivars. One cultivar, the Grape Hyacinth (or Muscari) has tiny bulbous blooms which look like small grapes hanging from a central stem. Hyacinths are herbaceous bulb plants, native to areas of the eastern Mediterranean region. Thanks to the vast numbers of cultivars, these plants can be grown at least indoors are often outdoors in a wide variety of climate zones. They are well loved as 'forced' plants (plants put into the proper conditions so that they will bud before they would outdoors) to begin spring as early as possible. Hyacinths make ideal plants for gardens and containers because of their beauty and wonderful perfume.