Have hyacinths in flower for Christmas

To have hyacinths in flower for the Christmas period, make sure you buy bulbs labelled ‘prepared'. Plant them in September and early October into decorative bowls filled with well-moistened bulb fibre.

The bulbs should be close together, but not touching, with their growing tips just poking through the compost.

Put the bulbs in a cool dark place (a cupboard in a cool room is ideal), ensuring the bulb fibre is kept just moist. Leave the bulbs in the dark for about eight weeks, by which time the roots will have developed and emerging shoots will be 4-5cm long (1.5-2in).

Once they have reached this stage, bring plants out into a cool room, away from bright light, to allow the leaves to green up as the plants grow and begin to flower. By Christmas you'll have a table centrepiece that looks and smells divine.

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