Mature Dutch Hyacinths, in their first year, have narrow basal leaves and flowers spaced thickly along a stiff cylindrical raceme. After a few years, when naturalized, even the most hefty hybrids shed much of their thick coat of flowers, resembling more and more their humble ancestor Hyacinthus orientalis , a style that fits with many gardening tastes today. Indoor gardeners, by and large, prefer their hyacinths full-blossomed and deliciously fragrant. Readily forced into bloom, hyacinths have long been an indoor favorite. They are also used quite effectively when planted in close groups among perennial shrubs.
Hyacinths are excellent container plants.
Many gardeners regard sweetly-scented hyacinths as an essential element in spring window boxes, or containers placed near doorways. Mass groupings in low, basin-shaped containers are especially effective. Many Dutch gardeners like to force successive flowerings of hyacinths indoors in flowerpots. These are planted, pot and all, in larger outdoor containers. When one wave of flowers begin to fade, the pots are removed and replaced with new ones full of fresh flowers.