10 Delightful Plants for Early Spring Flowers

Looking for early spring flowers? These favorites bloom early, often before the snow is gone.

For a printable list, also see Perennial Flower Bloom Times for Every Season.

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Garden Flowers in Early Spring

As a complete flower fanatic, one main goal for my garden is continuous blooms. I want something in bloom from the moment later winter will allow it until everything fades in late fall. Flowers and more flowers! Perennials. Lots of them, in all different colors, textures, heights, and sizes.

I have shared a printable list of favorite flowers through the seasons here, including hardiness zones so you can pick what’s right for your climate.

Today, we’re looking at examples from my own garden from late winter and spring. This should give you lots of ideas for your garden. They are not fancy or rare: just reliable and beautiful.

I’m using the word ‘perennial’ rather loosely here, meaning any plants, shrubs, or trees, and some bulbs, that bloom year-after-year without me having to do anything but admire them. Some are self-seeding annuals and a few are considered too aggressive so do your homework before making plant choices.

Scroll down if you would like my Spring Gardening Checklist.

1White Bleeding Heart | Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba’ (zones 3 to 9)

You’re probably familiar with pink bleeding hearts. I am in love with this white one. I bought it as a wee thing at a local plant sale several years ago and it just gets better each year. I look forward to the blooms like an excited little kid every spring.

The local plant sale actually marketed this plant as native to our region but it’s not.

2Primrose | Primula vulgaris (zones 4 to 8)

This is another plant obsession. There are several types of hardy primroses in all sorts of colors, and I want all of them. I’m in zone 6 and whenever we have a winter melt, the flowers are right there, blooming away! In fact, they never lose their leaves—they’re always there under the snow!

I’ve also noticed that the plant’s behavior changes quite a bit between various plants: some stay fairly small, and others really sprawl, growing a lot of new leaves and bigger blooms. I’m fine with both.

3Royal Star Magnolia | Magnolia stellata ( zones 4 to 9)

When I originally planted this magnolia it was kind of gangly looking.

After a few years I dug it up and lugged it to a sunnier location away from other trees and it’s doing much better.

Unlike other teacup magnolias, the flowers have long narrow petals and buttery yellow centers.

It’s different and beautiful.

4Apple Trees (zones vary)

I have several types of apples trees and each produces slightly different blooms, ranging from white to pink. I love watching as the blooms form, open, and then gradually change into tiny apples over a number of weeks.

If you want a blast of blooms in your spring garden, consider adding some fruit trees or native flowering trees which can produce many more flowers for pollinators than flowering perennials can.

5Iris (zones 3 to 8, some to zone 10)

I don’t know the name of this iris but it’s one of the few plants that came with the garden when we bought our house.

Like any irises, it multiplies and appreciates dividing every few years. The blooms on this particular iris do not last very long (sometimes only a few days), but, boy oh boy, they are dramatic and lovely. And that’s why daily inspections of the spring garden are so important! There’s always something new and fleeting.

6White Daffodils (zones 3 to 8)

You may have noticed a theme here: I love white flowers. I’m not fond of yellow daffodils but these white ones are gorgeous.

I don’t have the name but if I locate it, I’ll add it here. Ruffled and creamy-white, they are perfect with the eye-popping colors of the primulas.

7Crocus (zones 3 to 8)

I was lowkey over crocuses years ago until some new ones started popping up. The ones pictured here were planted by squirrels and I quite like them.

It’s quite funny how many new flowering bulb plants show up in my garden each year (tulip, crocus, daffodil….). I can’t help but wonder if this means my neighbors are wondering where theirs have gone.

8Forget Me Nots (zones 3 to 8)

It’s a flower, it’s a weed, it’s everywhere! I have a mixed relationship with forget-me-nots.

I would never recommend intentionally planting forget-me-knots because they are the very definition of invasive but the fact is they are here to stay. After flowering they create billions and billions of seeds—perhaps more than there are stars in the sky—so unless every plant is removed before going to seed, it’s a losing battle. I’m pretty certain mine arrived in a load of topsoil.

Yes, the flowers are pretty but then they change. As the seeds form they become the ugliest thing to ever grace the garden. Truth!

9Ferns

Wait a minute. That’s not a flower. But it kind of is. I have these wild (volunteer) ferns in one section of my garden and they are gorgeous.

Each spring, their nubby heads emerge from the soil and those beautiful green spirals gradually shift from tight balls to full fern leaves.

It is its own blooming of sorts. And, it is greenery like this that makes colorful flowering perennials really stand out.

10Hellebore | Helleborus spp.(zones 4 to 8)

Be still, my heart. I love hellebores. There are oodles of choices and each one is swoon worthy.

When we moved from our previous home, one of the plants I missed the most was my perfect hellebore. I’m pretty confident the new owner probably never even noticed it, but it was, I assure you, the entire reason spring is magical.

Resources

Free Printable Spring Gardening Checklist

If you would like to save and print the checklist (below), or keep it on your device, use the Add to Cart button (below). You can also read more about Spring Gardening Tips here.

This free tip sheet is in PDF format and can be read on any device with Adobe Reader (free). Watch where the file saves on your device so you know where to find it.

Flower on,

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛