Spring flowers come along and cheer us up at a time when we most need it -- after we've somehow survived another long winter. Speaking for myself, it wouldn't be going too far to say that they help me convalesce as I recuperate from Old Man Winter's months-long blustery barrage. But if you're a landscaping novice, you should consider a couple of points prior to making your plant selection to help you decide how best to incorporate these angels of mercy into your yard:
- Which kinds bloom earliest?
- How can I inject optimal variety into my springtime plantings?
The present article answers the first question by discussing 10 kinds of spring flowers that are known to be among the earliest blooming plants. Not that you shouldn't also grow some of the plants that bloom later in the springtime, such as lilacs and peonies; but the following early bloomers are especially prized for their ability to give us a "jump" on the growing season:
My Top 10
- Phlox
- Vinca
- Snowdrops
- Scilla
- Daffodils
- Pasque Flower
- Lenten Rose
- Pussy Willow
- Forsythia
- Magnolia Trees
Regarding my second point above, don't think the only way to inject variety into your springtime plantings is to use different colors. A less obvious but perhaps more important stratagem is to grow plants of different heights, thereby forcing the viewer continually to change eye-level. Hence, below I organize my top 10 choices according to plant height by placing them in the following categories:
- Short, spreading ground covers
- Bulb plants
- Perennials
- Shrubs and trees
Click on any of the links to access more detailed information about growing these plants.
Spring Flowers: Ground Covers
- Phlox
Creeping phlox bears small blossoms in dense clusters. Massed together on a banking, creeping phlox plants make a powerful landscaping statement. The colors available are red, white, blue, pink, rose, lavender, purple or variegated. - Vinca
Though a ground-hugger like creeping phlox, vinca is a vine plant, bearing larger leaves than phlox and bluish or white blooms. A tough plant suitable for shade gardens and requiring little care once established, I often encounter still-thriving vinca on abandoned homesteads.
Spring Flowers: Bulb Plants
- Snowdrops
Snowdrops are short plants, like the spreading ground covers above. But like other springtime bulb plants (and unlike the ground covers), their foliage dies back by summer. The "snow" in their name is apt: among the earliest bloomers, snowdrops are sometimes spotted pushing up through a layer of snow! - Scilla
Like snowdrops, scilla is a short bulb plant that will naturalize and eventually carpet an area of lawn with color in April. But unlike snowdrops, scilla's spring flowers come in blue -- always a sought-after color in the gardening world. - Daffodils
Being taller bulb plants, daffodils often bloom a bit later than the preceding two examples, although miniature varieties are available that may bloom earlier. My favorite daffodils are those with yellow flowers and those delightful signature trumpets!
Spring Flowers: Perennials
- Pasque Flower
Just as Lenten rose (below) may bloom in early spring, around the time of the Christian season of Lent, "Pasque flower" is so named because it blooms around Eastertime in some locales (Pasque being the Old French for "Easter"). And its lavender flowers are very much in keeping with the decorations for that holiday season. - Lenten Rose
Like the taller kinds of daffodils (and tulips, etc.), Lenten rose's height (18"-24" tall) makes it more noticeable from a distance than the shorter examples of spring flowers I list above. Despite its name, this plant is not a rose at all, but a hellebore.
Spring Flowers: Shrubs and Trees
- Pussy Willow
There are people who get a timely spring fever in March or April, and then there are those of us who "think spring" much earlier than that, despite being surrounded by snow and ice. If pussy willow shrubs were people, they'd fall into the latter camp, as they often display their fuzzy catkins while winter is still firmly entrenched. Often thought of as wild shrubs, you can also grow pussy willow in the landscape. - Forsythia
Forsythia is one of the most popular flowering shrubs and a more honest harbinger of spring than is the precocious pussy willow. When those cheerful yellow spring flowers grace the arching branches of forsythia, we know Old Man Winter has finally retired for another year. - Magnolia Trees
Magnolias are among the earliest flowering trees each year to produce their spring flowers. Star magnolia (picture above) stays shorter than most (15-20 feet tall) and blooms earliest.
Did You Know?
Articles such as this one on spring flowers are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the free resources available on this Landscaping site, which include:
