the garden - spring
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There are lots of things to consider for your garden. A top priority should be its seasonality. Think about how your garden looks throughout the seasons. In New England, that really means spring, summer and fall. Sure you can plant a little bit for winter, and we’ll talk about that in a future post, but it’s tough to put a lot of effort into something that will likely be under feet and feet of snow. Here are a few things I include in my garden in the spring to make it through the cold, dreary winters because I know this is coming!
Shrubs
Forsythia
Forsythia - Until I moved to the ‘burbs, I didn’t really appreciate what a welcome site this beautiful, tough shrub can mean after a long, tough winter. It’s bright yellow flowers are one of the first to bloom in the neighborhood and you see it everywhere. After gaining its leaves, it's nothing to write home about, just a bit of a boring shrub, but I leave it in my garden for its gloriousness in the spring.
Boxwood - Ok, this evergreen doesn’t bloom in the spring, but it makes up for it by being such a standard bearer of green after winter. Usually it’s burning in snow right up until April, but what a happy sight in April. Also, it’s a great backdrop for panies, tulips, and daffodils.
Early Bulbs
Snow crocus - these are the first darlings to pop up, sometimes right through the snow in March. It’s a wonderful vision because you know the other bulbs are not far behind. They even grow through my creeping phlox before dying back and making way for the phlox’s thick pink carpet..
Snow crocus
Daffodils, boxwoods and forsythia
Hyacinth - Beautiful colors and size and a fragrance that packs a wallop, hyacinth have a place right near the front door. Every year we place more to see how much is too much. We haven’t found the limit yet.
Daffodils - Daffodils have been a favorite for years now. More resistant to the creatures in my yard munching on them, they also naturalize so I can comfortably plant them in my lawn for pops of life under our dogwood tree.
Tulips - I love tulips. Unfortunately, so do the creatures in my yard, so I use these sparingly, where I know I can protect them from being eaten. They come in a variety of colors that is so beautiful in a cluster in early spring.
Mid-Spring bulbs
Iris - I was so surprised the first spring after I planted some small iris roots in my garden to see a massive flowering plant in my garden the next year. A tough, beautiful plant, I have a variety I have been gifted by friends and family and am starting to split and give away myself. These are such a happy plant and look great between the green of my boxwoods in the spring until the roses start doing their thing in early summer.
More Daffodils - There are varieties of daffodils that bloom later than others and I love to have the continuous blooming of flowers in the spring that these offer.
Hyacinth
Iris
Low growing perennials.
Pansies and candytuft
Candytuft - is an evergreen, but I really love it for its marshmallow look in the spring. I love it so much I’ve planted it all over the garden for the lovely white pillows of flowers everywhere. One of my favorite discoveries is that it is self-seeding and I’ve found baby plants all over the garden. Some I’ve left where I found them. Others, I’ve rehomed to better sections of the garden.
Pansies
Creeping Phlox - I love seeing phlox in the spring spill over rock walls, or tumble down hills. We’ve used it in our main beds as a low creeper and it’s joyful to see the beds awash in pink long before the rose bushes are doing their thing. A bonus with planting the phlox close together is that I’ve eliminated the need to mulch those areas and they stay green right through the fall, sometimes even reblooming when the weather cools.
Annuals
Candytuft
Pansies - instant gratification is the best in gardening. Pansies provide this in abundance. You can use them in your flower beds, or give you containers that have been sitting idle an immediate boost. Pair them with small evergreens and candytuft and you’ll have the best containers around. Another bonus I found is that some of these pansies also self seed, so I have little pansy visitors all over the beds. What a joy!
These are a few of my spring favorites, but I’m always adding more. Please comment below and let me know what I should add to my spring garden. Thanks!
