Spring
Early-Spring Flowers: The First Colour After Winter
The first colour of the year, when you need it most. These bulbs and perennials flower while the garden is still waking up.
Nothing lifts the spirits like the first flower after a long winter. While most of the garden is still bare, a handful of tough plants push up colour, and because almost nothing else is open, they get all the attention they deserve. A little planning in autumn buys you weeks of welcome colour at the start of the year.
Most of these are bulbs, planted the previous fall, with a few early perennials mixed in. Check the bloom calendar on each plant page to line them up so the colour starts as early as possible and carries into spring.
The very first flowers
These open in late winter, sometimes straight through frost and snow, and they feed the first bees of the year.
Often the very first flower of the year, nodding white bells that push up through frost.
Small cups of purple, gold, and white that naturalise into cheerful drifts and feed early bees.
Long-lasting blooms in the depths of winter on an evergreen plant that asks for almost nothing.
Spidery, fragrant yellow flowers on bare branches when little else dares to open.
The big spring bulbs
As the season warms, the classic bulbs take over. Plant them in generous groups in fall and they return a little wider every year.
Reliable, deer-proof, and naturalising, the cheerful backbone of the spring display.
The brightest spring colour there is, in nearly every shade you can imagine.
Dense, powerfully fragrant spikes that are wonderful in pots by the door.
Low ribbons of intense blue that look their best planted in generous sweeps.
Early perennials to weave in
Bulbs do the early work, but a few perennials flower alongside them and then keep the bed furnished as the bulbs fade.
A solid carpet of colour cascading over walls and edges for several weeks in spring.
Arching stems hung with heart-shaped lockets for a cool, lightly shaded spot.
Clouds of sky-blue bells in dappled shade, then politely vanishes for summer.
Plan ahead: most of these go in during fall
Spring bulbs like daffodils, tulips, crocus, and hyacinths are planted the previous autumn. If your spring looks bare, make a note now to order and plant bulbs in fall for a flying start next year.
What is the earliest flower to bloom in spring?
Snowdrops are usually first, often flowering in late winter through frost and snow, followed closely by crocus, hellebores, and witch hazel.
When should I plant spring bulbs?
In autumn, before the ground freezes. Daffodils, tulips, crocus, and hyacinths all need to be planted the fall before the spring you want them to flower.
Which early-spring flowers come back every year?
Daffodils, crocus, snowdrops, and grape hyacinths all naturalise and return reliably, often spreading into bigger drifts over time. Tulips are best treated as shorter-lived.
Design a garden with these plants
Open BloomsEye Studio with this guide's plants ready to drop onto a plan, then watch the whole bed bloom across the year.