After months of cold ranging from bitter to nagging, the first signs of Spring are always a welcome sight. Here we’ve highlighted our favorite early rising Spring plants which start the season off beautifully.
Unlike many other trees, a Redbud‘s flowers emerge before its first leaves, covering every branch in a wave of tiny hot pink blooms. The flowers are delicate, profuse, and unignorable. What a great start to the Spring season!
The ‘Rising Sun’ variety shown here is especially riveting because after its blooms fade, large, heart-shaped leaves take their place and turn the tree into a living rainbow of orange, yellow and green.
On the very threshold dividing winter from spring you will find this gentle guest waiting with open, fuzzy arms. Covered in soft catkins when few other plants are stirring, this plant certainly piques the imagination and is one of the highest delights of the early season garden. Most varieties have white catkins, but ‘Mt. Aso’ pictured here is an intriguing exception – producing rosy pink ones instead.
After long months of dreary gray days a burst of bright color is just what the doctor ordered. Forsythia is one of the most popular shrubs in the nation. It delivers sunny yellow to rich gold tones that liven up the the early spring landscape like nothing else.
The shrub shown here is Show Off® Forsythia and it is particularly interesting because of its curious upright habit. Most Forsythia have a weeping habit, but this one stands tall for all to admire.
When we think classy Southern elegance, we think Magnolia. In early spring these trees are typically the first ones on the scene, opening massive blooms in shades of ivory, yellow and even pink! Adaptable and vigorous, Magnolias are a must have for any garden. The blooms appear on bare branches and draw attention with their beauty and distinctly lovely fragrance.
The one pictured above is the ‘Elizabeth’ Magnolia and its crisp, pale yellow blossoms are welcome fanfare to begin the spring season.
Winter has barely packed its bags to leave when these beauties appear like magic. Helleborus, often called Lenten Roses, are the stars of any late winter to early spring garden with their distinctive colors and tantalizing blooms adding life and interest to the often empty landscapes.
Part of the Winter Thriller™ series, the variety above is known as ‘Showtime Ruffles‘ and it clearly lives up to its name.