The curious tale of bulbs on water
Hello, glass of hyacinth anyone?
It is a wonderful time of year, where my love of horticulture fuses with my mam's passion for glass collecting. Together we start the process, in a chilly October garage, of forcing hyacinth bulbs in vintage 'Bulb Vases'. Fueled by steaming cups of tea (not hyacinths - they are poisonous!), the vases are pulled out of storage and we carefully wash and dry them all. Matching yellow jumper alert! (If we were off to town together, I'd make mam change!)
We then fill them with water, almost to the top, but making sure that
the bulb we place on the top does not contact with the water, else it rots. This year's bulbs have been treated to two months,
in a paper bag, in the fridge. You can buy pre-treated bulbs, but they are more
expensive. Look at this lovely plump bulb eager to send its roots out. (Please note, hyacinth bulbs can be a skin irritant to some. I've got old boot skin, so they don't bother me)
<I will try to find an old picture of them in bloom>
This year we are staggering the process, just starting off a handful at a time, as on previous years they have all bloomed at the same bloomin' time and there just hasn't been enough space on the window sills. As you can see, my mam has amassed quite a collection over the years...
Probably one of the oldest and most innovative bulb vases in the collection, is one marked with 'Tye'. George Percy Tye was a Birmingham industrialist and enthusiastic gardener who registered his design in 1850. The wider, flat bottomed base stopped the flowers toppling over, a problem that occurred in the slimmer conical vases. His design was so successful, it was much copied and 'Tye' went on to refer to the name of the actual shape.
Above: Green 'Tye' Bulb Vase. Below: Tye's original design shows an adjustable wire support.
Tye cleverly utilised Birmingham's hive of metalworks, as well as glass houses. Unfortunately our vase is missing the support.
I have been learning all about the history of bulb vases in Patricia Coccoris' book - 'The Curious History of The Bulb Vase'. Holland born Patricia grew up and still lives in the historical bulb growing region of Haarlem, but her interest in George Percy Tye brought her to England for her incredible, meticulous research.
I thought it wonderful that Patricia traced Tye's family line to the present day: Alison Saville-Tye, a landscape designer working in yorkshire and John Tye - owner of Lea Gardens in Derbyshire, which is open to the public. Patricia writes - 'Neither Alison nor John was aware of their famous great-great-grandfather, who has such a passion for gardening in every form, but is evident that they inherited his genes'. Anyone who has ever tried to frustratingly research their own family history must appreciate how satisfying it must have been to be contacted by Patricia!
Between 1820 and 1890 the hyacinth became the most fashionable flower. For the first time ever, bulbs appeared as an affordable option in amateur gardening catalogues and publications. Indoor bulb forcing was also considered a more 'ladylike' gardening pursuit, where it was acceptable to remove mold from a bulb using a silk handkerchief and grow it in a beautiful vase, which could also double up as a cut flower vase in the summer months.
Patricia is quick to point out that bulb growing experimentation can be traced further back, and many cultures and generations have held a long fascination with the magic of bulbs on water.
In other under cover Long Mizzle gardening news... I have been busy sowing some flower seeds from Higgledy Garden for next year's cut flower patch.
Sweet peas, Cornflower, Dill, Scabiosa, Candytuft, Nigella, Larkspur, Achillas... all happy to be sown in the autumn.
An autumn sowing of Ammi Majus gave spectacular results one year. Sweet peas I have tried in October before, as well as calendula, but the rest I usually sow in spring.
The green house is bursting full, so some sowings are having VIP (Very Important Plant) treatment on the bedroom window ledge. "The pots of mud are back" says Monsieur. Well it seems to be working, as many have already germinated after just three days. I'll keep you updated on the bulbs and the seeds.
Over the next few days, I will be having an autumn wardrobe sort out. Time for all of my hats and jumpers to come out.
What are you up to?
Take care, laugh like a nutter and hope to see you soon,
Lulu xXx
As always, please drop me a message to say hello if you have stopped by!
Latest posts here - https://longmizzle.blogspot.com
What a wonderful and interesting post. I remembered growing hyacinths in vases like those as a child, my mum had a collection too, a little smaller than your mum's! I have never tried sowing seeds in the Autumn, I would love to grow more flowers but it is my least successful type of gardening to date!
ReplyDeleteThank you sustainablemum! That’s lovely that your mum had a collection too. My mam tends to womble en masse – which can be a blessing and a curse (I once commented that I needed a new swim suit. She’d bought about twenty of them (all at 50p apparently) before I realised none of them actualy fit!!!) I’m very good at sowing seeds, but less successful at getting the plants out into the garden on time, so I’m hoping the autumn sowing will help. Lulu x
DeleteWhat a fascinating post, Lulu! I have serious hyacinth-vase envy! I have a couple of cheap clear glass hyacinth vases and a ersatz delft one. Like your mum, I use them for hyacinths and for the occasional posy. I had no idea of the history - how clever designing an integrated support. We are all well aware of hyacinth flop! I've never pre-prepared my own bulbs but will give it a go next year. I don't have space to sow autumn seeds but I intend to buy a tiny greenhouse so, again, next year is the year! Sweet peas just don't flower in time here to have any season at all which is hugely disappointing as it is one of my favourite flowers. I would LOVE to have space to grow flowers for cutting (I'm a cut flower junkie) but as I don't, my garden flowers mostly stay in situ for outdoor display. PS I have the same, or very similar, jumper!
ReplyDeleteThanks Catmac :) It is a little worrying using some of the older vases, but there are plenty of cheapo knock-off ones in there too. Some people recommend three months for the bulbs in the fridge, but we’ve found just a couple does the job. Yep, monsieur is really not happy about the pots of mud, but I said don’t worry, they’ll be gone within the month, then he doesn’t have to deal with them until February again! I love sweet peas too – remind me of being a kid. My jumper was, shock horror, a supermarket bargain bin item :0 Lulu x
DeleteWhy don't I proof read my reply before posting? Misuse of the indefinite article. Tisk, tisk! Should be "an ersatz".
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Catmac, proof reading is not something I adhere to... and tends to come MANY days later :0 Lulu x
DeleteHow fab! We always used to have an array of those hyacinth vases on the windowsill in the breakfast room as a child and it was so exciting when they used to flower. I had no idea about the history of the bulb vases and love that they have a West Midland heritage!
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit in love with the packets of the Higgledy Garden seeds, I think I need to investigate further!
I'm looking forward to seeing more of your winter wardrobe if that delicious yellow jumper is an example!
Have a fab week ahead, Lulu! xxx
How lovely that you had hyacinth vases too Vix when you were little! My mam would be able to tell you more, but I am also aware of Chance Brothers that had a huge glassworks not too far from you in Smethwick. Patricia Coccoris’s partner, David Encil, researched their history and my mam donated a couple of items for his collection and book. You may be familiar with the fabulous retro ‘hankerchief vases’ – in brilliant 1950s/60s/70s styles and colours.
DeleteChance also developed lighthouse optics from the 1850s (lamps in cage assemblies, surrounded by Fresnel lenses) and rotating optics – used to give lighthouses their own identifiable strobing pattern. During WWI, they also produced the Cathode Ray Tubes (a pre-curser to those found in old TVs) used in early radar. Lulu x
p.s. Higgledy Seeds are great. The owner, Benjamin is quite a character and used to live down these Cornish parts before taking off to tour the country on a narrowboat (well, before lockdown at least). There are some great tips on his blog x
DeleteHi Lulu, what a great post!
ReplyDeleteI love your passion for plants and can't wait to see the flowered bulbs.
Your mum's glass vase collection looks stunning. I'm not sure if there are many here in Australia, but if I ever come across one in an opshop, I'll be sure to snap it up! X
Thanks Jess :) It’d be really interesting to see what you can find in your opshops! Do you have carboot sales in Australia? They are hugely popular here (in non-Covid times) with people getting up at arse o’ clock in the morning to walk round soggy, junk filled fields… I am missing them this year.
DeleteThere are plenty of vases, not designed for bulbs, that would also do the job… look out for an opening small enough to support the bulb but wide enough to allow the ring of roots to grow down into the water. Hope you had a good week. Lulu x