How to Plant a Spring Flower Garden

Nothing warms a winter heart more than the appearance of flowers in spring time. Purple and white flower buds break through the snow and ice, reaching for the warmth of the sun as the daylight hours lengthen. By planting a spring garden the fall before, a gardener can delight in the first glimpse of warmer months to come. Read on to learn how to plant a spring flower garden.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Plant perennials for a spring flower garden since there are limited varieties of early blooming annuals.

2. Surround the flower garden with spring flowering shrubs and bushes like the bright yellow forsythia, white snowdrop, orange azaleas, deep rose rhododendrons or pink flowering almonds.

3. Include the vibrant greens of newly emerging hostas and ferns in the spring flower garden design. Hostas are available in variegated, blue, yellow and fragrant varieties. Add cinnamon ferns for a splash of burgundy brown.

4. Plan the spring flower garden as a single color or multi-colored. A swath of bright red tulips turns all eyes toward the flower garden, and pastel yellows, pinks and whites generate visions of spring holidays and bunnies.

5. Accent the spring flower garden with the red stalks of flowering dogwoods. Plant a mountain laurel for white and pink blossoms during May and early June.

6. Fill in bare spots of the spring flower garden with rhubarb. The giant leaves add different texture and the edible stalks mature in spring for use in pies and muffins.

7. Select early flowering varieties of common garden flowers to plant in the spring garden.

8. Add flowering cherry trees and lilac bushes in whites, purple and blues as scented backdrops to the spring flower garden.

9. Plant annuals like wallflowers, pansies and primroses for spring blooming flowers. In the fall, plant tulips, crocuses, hyacinth and daffodil bulbs for a splash of vibrant colors in the early spring months.

Tips & Warnings

• If planting annuals, sow seeds in fall for spring blossoms and protect the bed with straw or mulch over the winter months.
• Experiment with flower choices and plant a variety of types--annuals, perennials and bulbs.
• Layer the garden with summer blooming flowers to extend the season.
• Choose hardy flowers that last through the winter season and protect with mulch.
• Do not plant mountain laurel if residing in Pennsylvania. It is illegal to have this state flower in the garden.