Spring Flowering Plants

Spring Is Coming!

The spring garden is probably my favorite time of year in the garden. Everything is just so bright and chirpy! Even when it’s still cool, masses of spring flowering plants start coming into bloom, chasing away the dullness of winter. The winter rain we have here in California also means that all the blooms will be enhanced by a green backdrop. This is a real treat for me as my previous garden lived through dry winters and I usually didn’t have a blade of green by the time spring came around.

Brilliant Bulbs

There are so many spring flowering plants but I always think of bulbs first. I guess that’s because I’ve been worrying about them since I planted them in fall, especially when they didn’t all come up at the same time. Now I see Tulips coming up and some Alliums and even some tardy Ranunculas. (Unfortunately, the 150 Tulip bulbs I planted in my street side bed have all been dug up by passing skunks!) They’re joining the Crocuses, Ixias, Dutch Irises and the Freesias which have been up for quite some time. You can almost set your clocks by Freesias, they flower so consistently. In Zimbabwe it was always in the first week of August but I’ve yet to discover the  magic date here. Having said that, there are a couple of buds appearing this week.

Irises

My husband made me a bath bed and I planted stacks of German Iris rhizomes in the fall. So far they’re not looking so good, I have to say, but hopefully they’ll rally in the coming weeks and send up a flower or two. It’s still early yet.

They grow very easily in California and are every plant addict’s dream, with their single or multiple colors and soft textures. The good thing is, they are spring flowering plants which then give some bonus flowers during summer and nothing eats them. Something is after my mini Dutch Irises and one little bloom was eaten as it peeked its head out! Snails probably.

 

 

 

 

Just this morning I was out walking  on the hills when I spotted  the first of the native Douglas Irises popping out. Soon whole patches  will be  covered in pale and dark blues. People drive out from San Francisco just to see the fields of wild flowers that grow in this area and Douglas Irises make up a big part of that landscape from now until mid spring.

 

 

Pansies And Violas

While I was waiting I decided to plant some violas as a ground cover in between the hiding bulbs and they are already filling out and looking happy. I love pansies and violas and plant them all over the place, in beds and in pots around Lilium bulbs and other plants that hibernate in winter. These hardy beauties exhaust themselves flowering for months from late winter but are very cheaply replaced as soon as the older ones get tatty and you can plant a whole new color scheme the next time.

Peonies

Many people reckon Peonies are the queens of spring flowering perennials and I bought one for the first time at the nursery last spring when it already had a couple of buds. I was expecting a multitude more but those few buds were the only ones so I was very disappointed although the flowers were quite breathtaking. I have since found out that they should be transplanted in the fall, not in spring because they sulk, so I’m hoping that this spring I’ll have an abundance of lush beauties. So ask for advice from the nursery if you’re tempted this spring.

Poppies

Poppies, Poppies and more Poppies, I say! I could write an entire piece on Papavers alone. Perhaps I will, but for now I will say that Poppies wear the glad rags of spring flowering plants.

They mix and match once I start planting from my own seeds so I never know what colors I’ll end up with, but I love them all. I was enchanted last spring when my street side bed broke out into a mass of yellow California Poppies all on its own.

My early favorites are Iceland Poppies which I tried to plant in fall as they were selling in the nursery but, alas, it was too cold for them.  I’ll plant some more when they reappear in the nurseries. I have planted seeds of Shirleys and Orientals in my little greenhouse because I want lots of them in all my nooks and crannies. Between the various varieties, I should have poppies flowering from spring deep into summer. They’re very striking when their tissue paper petals break out of their green cocoons and are much beloved by bees who are also drawn to their fabulous gaudiness.

Cyclamens

In Zimbabwe we kept our Cyclamens in the shade because they burned in the sun. Here I see Cyclamens growing on window sills, in flower beds and in big pots outside shopping malls, all looking quite happy.

I have had a fascination for these spring flowering bulbs since I first owned one and have raised dozens from seed.  They take a couple of years to bloom but planting seeds each year gives me an on-going supply. They are perennials, as are most bulbs, popping up again each spring or, if it’s mild enough, they are evergreen. In fact, they have been blooming through fall and winter and I have no doubt they will carry on into spring.

Here is a link to a list of plants which are gopher resistant:   http://www.groundcoversandgardening.com/gopher resistant plants
and you can find deer resistant plants right here.

Happy gardening and don’t forget your sunscreen. There’s so much skin cancer about, you must protect your skin.