dormancy period, and will only persist in cold-weather regions. It is grown for the clusters of strongly fragrant, brightly coloured flowers. Over 2,000 cultivars have been selected and named, with flower colour in shades of blue, white, pale yellow, pink, red or purple; most cultivars have also been selected for denser flower spikes than the wild type, bearing 40–100 or more flowers on each spike. Cultivars The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:- 'Aida' (deep blue) 'Anna Marie' (pink) 'Blue Festival' (pale blue) 'Blue Jacket' (blue) 'Chicago' (violet blue) 'City of Haarlem' (cream) 'Delft Blue' (blue) 'Fairly' (white) 'Gipsy Queen' (salmon pink) 'Jan Bos' (deep pink) 'L'Innocence' (white) 'Miss Saigon' (deep pink) 'Ostara' (blue) 'Paul Hermann' (mauve-pink) 'Royal Navy' (dark blue) 'Yellow Queen' (cream yellow) Forcing Hyacinths are among the most popular bulbs selected for the process known as forcing, whereby plants are induced to flower earlier than their natural season (in this case, Christmas). It involves depriving bulbs of light and warmth for a period of several weeks, before growing them on in a bright, cool place such as a kitchen windowsill. It is possible to grow the bulbs in a narrow-necked vase of water, thus being able to view the root growth. Alternatively, bulbs can be purchased pre-forced. Toxicity H. orientalis contains alkaloids and is toxic if eaten in large quantities. The bulb, however, is the most poisonous part and should not be ingested under any circumstances. See also List of poisonous plants References External links Newsletter Number 4. (October 2004) Hyacinth perennialization , Flower Bulb Research Program, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University Scilloideae Garden plants Flora of Lebanon Flora of Western Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus