One of my favorite spring flowers is the hyacinth. These spunky little perennials are often the first up in spring, poking their heads up through the snow. The flowers come in countless colors and varieties, from the compact grape hyacinth to the larger open spikes of blooms of other types. Pink, white, blue – hyacinths march in a rainbow across the still sleeping landscape. These flowers grow from bulb-like corms, which allows me to enjoy them indoors even when it's still a bit too early for the outdoor flowers to burst into life.

Several methods for forcing the corms work well, but the easiest by far is the hyacinth vase. These clear glass vases resemble an hourglass with a narrow waist in the center. You simple fill the vase with water to the waist, set the corm in the top section, and provide the hyacinth with bright light and warmer indoor temperatures. Within a few days to a couple of weeks, the corm sends roots out into the bottom section of the vase and leaves and flower buds emerge from the top. The only care required is periodic replacement of the water.

Hyacinth vases work for other spring bulbs. Smaller bulbs of tulips and daffodils grow well in a standard hyacinth vase, while larger vases are available for the bigger bulb types. If you don't have a hyacinth vase available, the next best option is to fill a shallow bowl with clean pebbles. Nestle several corms or bulbs in the pebbles then add water to the bowl until it just touches the bottom of the corm. Using a bowl instead of a vase allows you to plant more hyacinths in one place, making a larger arrangement.