Spring Flowers

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

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Right now is the time to tour gardens and to make a list of the spring blooming flowers that are so extraordinarily beautiful right now. Some can be planted now, some are for planting this fall but you are never going to see many of them a showy as they are right now with the abundant moisture and the cooler temperatures.

The following flowers are some of the selections that bloom in our gardens. They are collections of hardy annuals, biennials and spring blooming perennials. Grab your camera and your notebook to get these on your list.

Violas are often considered miniature pansies, but they are actually hardy perennials. Colors and markings are similar to pansies. "Johnny jump up" violas are the best choice for spring blooms.

These work well combined with bulbs in rock gardens or other naturalized areas. An additional bonus is that they often reseed themselves and naturalize into an area.

Wallflowers really do exist in the garden. They come in red, white, yellow, cream, lemon, apricot, pink and purple.

They are one of the most underutilized of all of the spring blooming flowers. Their availability is limited, but they are worth planting to add beauty to the spring garden.

Iceland poppies are another wonderful spring performer. Their large, delicate flowers do best in cool, sunny springs.

They display shades of red, pink, white, orange and yellow. They are perennial, so they can be left in if the entire flower bed is not replaced. Most use them as winter annuals

Some varieties of dianthus are considered hardy annuals, but selective breeding has produced some very showy plants that are short lived perennials.

Plants grow 12 inches high and 12 inches wide and create a beautiful spring display. If they are sheared back, they resume blooming in the fall.

White, pink, red, lavender, maroon and mixtures of these colors make brilliant displays soon after the snow melts. They are some of the longest lasting and showiest of the spring flowers.

Sweet Williams are biennial dianthus that are shorter with smaller flowers.

Forget me nots, or myosotis, produce clusters of tiny flowers. Their colors range from deep blue to pale blue, to pink or to white.

Brunnera is a spring blooming perennial with flowers very similar to forget me nots. Choose them for areas that are not going to be replanted each year.

Lunaria, also known as honesty or money plant, has beautiful lavender, purple or white flowers in the spring.

Because it is taller use it as a background planting or mixed with taller bulbs. An added bonus is the translucent silvery circles (money) that appear after the blossoms fade.

Taller plants also include foxgloves, lupines, delphiniums and hollyhocks.

Foxgloves grow 3 to 4 feet high. Each spike is covered with funnel shaped blooms that open first at the bottom of the spike and continue blooming up the entire length of the stem.

Lupines likewise produce a showy spike of flowers in the early spring. The color range includes pinks, lavenders, whites and other pastels.

Add delphiniums for showy blue, pink or white spikes in the spring garden.

Many varieties of hollyhocks also bloom in the early spring. Dwarf varieties are only 2 ½ feet high, but large, giant varieties may grow 10 feet. Use them carefully or they overwhelm other spring flowers.

Stocks bloom well in the early spring. They used to be grown extensively to use in cut flower arrangements. Even though they are not as popular now for this purpose, they have enjoyed a resurgence in the spring garden.

Other wonderful perennials that give a beautiful spring show include arabis, aubrietia, bleeding hearts, and Aurinia saxitile, or "basket of gold." Ajuga, primulas, snapdragons and many other spring flowers round out the palette of available blossoms to create a show stopping spring garden.

Biennials such as foxglove and monkshood spend the first year as small rosettes. The second season they send up spectacular flower stalks covered with spring blossoms.

Some spring perennials spend the summers in the garden as masses of foliage. These are content to act as backgrounds or fillers for the summer show. As they spread, they become too robust and need dividing to keep them attractive and in bounds.

Small selected divisions in the fall will fill in and bloom next spring as part of the blossom show. Some die back to the ground in the spring allowing you to plant right over the top of them.