THE first of the spring flowering bulbs arrive in garden centres and shops this week. Amongst the most popular are the prepared hyacinths for early planting.

For most spring flowering subjects such an early start is not critical. It is only if you are going to force bulbs for an early display that planting during the next couple of weeks is vital.

This is particularly the case with hyacinths. If you wish to get them into flower by Christmas, the beginning of September is the very latest by which they should be planted.

Always purchase the best bulbs that you can afford and use a proper compost or bulb fibre. Specially prepared bulb fibre is generally the best, for it has an open free-draining structure which is a great advantage when shallow bowls are used.

When planting hyacinths in bowls, leave the 'nose' of each bulb just poking out above the surface of the bulb fibre, and always plant a single variety to each bowl, otherwise there will be no uniformity of flowering.

Varieties of hyacinth, even of the same colour, can flower as far apart as three or four weeks. Even within a single variety the flower spikes may vary from plant to plant in their period of opening.

If you are growing several bowls of the same variety, then plant all the bulbs together in a deep tray. Once they are well rooted, put those with similar rates of growth in the same bowl. They will quickly re-establish if lifted carefully with a rootball. This is how the florist achieves even flower spikes and matching heights in a single bowl.

The most important factor in growing successful forcing bulbs is the initial rooting period. Once planted, the bulbs must remain in a cool dry place for eight to eleven weeks.

This enables the bulbs to make a root system that is capable of coping with the burgeoning growth that is associated with forcing. During their cool period check periodically to see that the bulb fibre remains moist, but never allow it to become wet.

After a minimum of eight weeks the emerging flower spikes will just be poking out of the bulbs. You can then stand them in progressively warmer conditions.

As with most flowering pot plants, during the short dull days of winter hyacinths must be given maximum light, but a temperature that is sufficiently low that growth does not become distorted or elongated. A window is fine, but do not shut them behind the curtains in the evening as the temperature drop can be sudden and quite damaging.

If a suitable light-to-temperature ratio can be attained, then the average bowl of hyacinths is good for four or five weeks. Once flowering has finished, the bulbs are best discarded.

Unlike daffodils, which will give a reasonable show the following year when planted out in the garden, hyacinths exhaust themselves when forced and rarely produce more than a few leaves and a sickly flower stalk.

WHAT'S NEW

Marianne is the latest red flowered perennial poppy.

Blue Ice is a short pale blue bearded iris.

Condor has bright yellow flowers streaked with brown and is the most recent perennial evening primrose introduction.

JOBSThis is the ideal time to take cuttings of geraniums to produce plants for over-wintering.

1. Take a cutting of a non-flowering shoot at a leaf joint.

2. Trim up excessive leaves.

3. Insert cuttings around the edge of a pot and place on the window ledge.

Q. When do I harvest my shallots? The leaves are starting to turn brown.

A. Lift the clumps now and allow them to dry off naturally. When the foliage has faded separate and store the bulbs.

Q. Can I still sow perpetual spinach seed? If so when will I be able to pick it?

A. Perpetual spinach can be sown until September. While a few leaves will be available for picking this year, late summer sowings are usually intended to produce a crop for the spring.

Q. Is there a trick to getting anemone tubers to sprout? Mine always appear very erratically.

A. Soak them for 24 hours in water before planting. This usually triggers them into growth.