Last Updated on November 6, 2026 by Thompson & Morgan Horticultural Team
Every festive season, plant lovers across the UK look for ways to bring fragrance, vibrant colour, and a touch of life into their homes. While festive classics like amaryllis and azaleas continue to grow in popularity, one flower consistently takes the top spot: the scented hyacinth.
For ten consecutive years, hyacinths have remained the nation’s most popular indoor Christmas plant gift, outperforming even spectacular new releases. Here’s why…
The dark mythology behind the hyacinth
White hyacinths forced to bloom inside over winter
Image: Hyacinth ‘Snow Crystal’ from T&M
While we associate these cheerful blooms with festive warmth and spring-like fragrance, the flower has a surprisingly dramatic origin story rooted in ancient mythology.
According to Greek legend, two gods – Apollo, the god of the sun, and Zephyr, the god of the west wind – both fell in love with a young Greek man named Hyakinthos (Hyacinthus). One day, while Apollo was teaching Hyakinthos how to throw a discus, Zephyr grew consumed with jealousy. In a fit of rage, the wind god blew the heavy discus off course, striking Hyakinthos in the head with fatal consequences.
Heartbroken, Apollo vowed that the young man would never be forgotten. From the soil soaked with Hyakinthos’s blood, Apollo created a fragrant flower, naming it hyacinth in his honour.
From airing cupboard to modern forcing: how Christmas hyacinths are grown
This magical mix of coloured blooms has a heavenly aroma
Image: Hyacinth ‘Pagoda Mix’ from T&M
If you grew up forcing hyacinth bulbs at home, you might remember placing potted bulbs into the dark warmth of an airing cupboard to trick them into blooming early. Today, modern horticultural techniques have turned bulb forcing into a precise science.
This is how the T&M horticultural team guarantees blooms in time for December:
- Temperature treatment (July–August): Hyacinth bulbs are held in carefully controlled warm conditions to get them ready.
- Precision potting & humidity control: The bulbs are potted and moved to specialised climate-controlled growing rooms where light, humidity, and temperature are strictly regulated.
- Festive blooming: This careful VIP treatment ‘forces’ the bulbs, ensuring they arrive on your doorstep ready to burst into fragrant bloom precisely when winter feels cold and gloomy.
Why scented hyacinths make the ideal festive gift
This flurry of pearly-white scented blooms make an elegant Christmas decoration
Image: Hyacinth ‘White Pearl’ from T&M
Scented varieties like Hyacinth ‘Pink Pearl’ and ‘Woodstock’ have dominated Christmas gift lists since 1999. Unlike standard cut flowers, forced hyacinth bulbs offer extraordinary value.
- Instant scent & colour: Delivered in decorative containers, they fill living rooms with natural perfume within days.
- The gift that keeps on giving: Once the indoor bloom finishes in early January, don’t throw the bulbs away! Plant them out in your garden borders or patio containers, and they will bloom naturally every spring for years to come.
Best forced hyacinths for Christmas gifting
This gift can be delivered directly to friends and family just as it’s about to bloom
Image: Hyacinth Glass Bowl Gift from T&M
A well-placed pot of early-blooming hyacinths is a wonderful way to decorate your home for the festive season, and a popular gift. These bulbs have received VIP treatment so that they’re ready to send out just as the flower buds are emerging. Here are some of our horticultural team’s favourite varieties for gifting:
- Hyacinth ‘Pink Pearl’ – Gift: Specifically prepared to flower over Christmas, this variety bursts into a bright frenzy of perfumed pink blooms once it reaches the warmth of your home.
- Hyacinth ‘White Pearl’ – Gift: For a shimmering white Christmas, these elegant scented blooms are a popular present.
- Hyacinth Glass Bowl – Gift: these three white blooms are presented in a clear glass bowl and delivered in bud for a scented Christmas treat.
Best hyacinth bulbs to force at home
These luxurious purple blooms create a sumptuous display
Image: Hyacinth ‘Woodstock’ from T&M
If you don’t buy one of our specially prepared bulbs from the Christmas gift range, why not choose from our wide range of regular hyacinth bulbs and force them yourself? This involves tricking the bulb that it’s winter and then bringing it into into the warmth. The process takes a little longer, but it’s a great way to get spring bulbs to bloom early. Read our guide to growing hyacinth bulbs in water for an easy indoor technique. Here are some varieties to try:
- Hyacinth ‘Dark Dimension’: these bulbs produce deep indigo, nearly black booms, for a gorgeously gothic display.
- Hyacinth ‘Pretty in Pink’ Mix: including deep raspberry, light pink and white blooms, these bulbs look great indoors and out.
- Hyacinth ‘Gipsy Queen’: this unusual peach-coloured variety has an intense perfume.
Whether you’re shopping for plant lovers or looking for a last-minute Christmas gift, hyacinths make for a memorable present that keeps giving for many years to come. See our full range of Christmas gifts for even more ideas.
Lead image: Hyacinth ‘Pink Pearl’ from T&M
The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.