A selection of 16 best early flowers for decorating a summer cottage
In early spring, the beloved garden lacks color. The lawn is just on the way to lush greenery, while the trees and bushes are still sleeping. This is the time when primroses reign on flower beds and alpine hills. We present to your attention the best early garden flowers with a wide variety of colors.
About the features of cultivation
Primroses are always planted in open ground in autumn from September to November in order to admire their flowering in early spring. Places are chosen open, drained, sanctified by the sun. Suitable areas are between stones, under trees that do not yet have foliage in spring and the area is completely open to the sun.
Perennial bulbs or plots are planted with the condition that in the summer their aboveground part will either be absent altogether, or will lose their decorative effect. That is, you need to plant them in groups near summer ornamental plants and shrubs.
In the garden, an interesting option is to plant bulbs in the lawn. In a few years they will grow and will delight the eye with whole blooming meadows.
Primroses are not only beautiful plants, but also very easy to care for. Do not require watering and any agrotechnical measures. It is enough just to feed them 1-2 times a year and plant them if necessary.
Ultra early bulbous
There is still snow, but the first messengers of spring, snowdrops, are beginning to break through from under its cover, and other flowering bushes will delight us one after another with bright colors.
Snowdrops
Snowdrops are the first to wake up from hibernation. Their white bell flowers appear in March, as soon as the snow melts. The botanical name of the plant is galanthus... Propagated by daughter bulbs or seeds. Prefers growing conditions close to natural. Terry varieties of snowdrop look especially impressive in the garden.
Groups of Galanthus are planted under shrubs, trees, in partial shade so that in the summer the bulbs in the ground do not dry out in the scorching sun.
Next comes the turn of other bulbous early flowering flowers:
- crocuses:
- hyacinths;
- muscari;
- woodlands;
- erantis.
Crocuses
This is one of the most numerous groups of spring flowers in color. They are yellow, blue, purple, pink, and have a two-color color. There are natural forms and hybrid ones, bred in Holland and with large flowers. Most often, an unpretentious crocus Tommasini and Ankyra. The plant grows quickly as it forms numerous babies after flowering.
Crocuses like hyacinths and tulips great for early forcing in containers. To do this, in November, they are planted in a light substrate with a high sand content. Crocuses will bloom by March. For a spectacular appearance, 5-10 bulbs are planted in a container.
Hyacinths
The bushes have not only an aesthetic appearance, but also a bright aroma, especially for Dutch varieties. In just a 5-century history of cultivation, more than 300 varieties of this plant have been bred. It is planted both in groups and singly on alpine hills or in combination with crocuses and tulips.
Muscari
The most unpretentious and bright primroses appear in the garden. It blooms from April to May, depending on the variety. Bloom for about 1.5 weeks, after which the aerial part dries up. Muscari planted in groups to create the effect of a blooming carpet. The predominant color of inflorescences is white, blue, purple.
Proleska
A low-growing plant with small flowers fits in. The botanical name is scilla. Siberian beetle has bright blue flowers, it is she who is widely represented in the gardens of the middle zone. Extremely unpretentious and ideal for the landscape of a natural style garden. All the plant needs is moist, light soil during flowering. When planting a spit in the garden, you need to be prepared to restrain its active growth.
Erantis
This plant is also included in the list of ultra early bulbous. It blooms in April with bright yellow flowers with a diameter of only 2-2.5 cm, and does not lose its decorative effect even with snowfalls. The plant reaches a height of 10 cm. It is necessarily planted in groups, in single plantings it does not look impressive.
The list of early flowers for the garden can be supplemented with representatives such as irises (net), daffodils, hazel grouses. The latter are the most numerous and are represented by both dwarf species, similar to snowdrops, and large ones, reaching a height of 80-90 cm.
Daffodils
Representatives of the family are no less numerous in terms of varietal diversity. On the market you can find ultra-early bulbs and late bulbs, which bloom in May. The most graceful among daffodils are:
- Ice King (double creamy white flowers with a diameter of 12-13 cm);
- Pink Champagne (white-pink crown flowers);
- Spelbinder (lemon tubular flowers that change color in the center to white).
Delicate irises
Iris reticulated - a dwarf representative of irises. The botanical name is iridodictium. It reaches a height of 10 cm, so I plant it in groups on alpine coaster or among the lawn.
Most bulbous plants do not need to be dug up. In one place, they can grow for at least 5 years. Exceptions are plants that grow rapidly and require more space. This also applies to tulips, which every year go deep into the earth, from which the flowers become smaller or do not appear at all.
Tulips
The brightest and most anticipated symbol of spring is the tulip. The plant is found both in the wild in fields and meadows, and in cultivated. Hundreds of bred varieties and hybrids. They differ in the size and color of the bulb, the height of the plant, the diameter and color of the flower, the timing of planting and flowering.
Tulip flowers can be goblet, oval, cup-shaped. Petals can be simple, double, fringed. There are varieties that form multiple buds on one plant.
The earliest tulip varieties that bloom at the end of March:
- Duke Van Tol (height 20 cm, flowers are red-orange, yellow or pink, simple goblet-shaped);
- Monte Carlo (yellow, terry, 20 cm high);
- Abba (dwarf, scarlet, only 10 cm high).
There are many more varieties of tulips that bloom from mid-April to late May. They are distinguished by a high stem up to 40-50 cm, a variety of shapes and colors of inflorescences. For abundant flowering, they need moisture and nutritious soil. The more organic components it contains, the larger and brighter the flower will be, and the bulb will give more children.
Tulips grown in the open field and in containers. Bulbs are planted in the ground in October-November, depending on the region and the weather. Soil temperature should not be higher than + 10 ° С. The bulb should have time to take root before the onset of persistent frost, but not develop a green aboveground part.
If the plant is used for container planting, the bulbs are planted in November and left in a cellar or other cool and dark room until January.
In the month of planting, watered 1-2 times to prevent the soil from drying out completely.In the spring, tulips are fed 2 times with nitrogen and mineral fertilizers until flowering.
When the plant blooms and the stem turns yellow, the bulbs are dug up, dried and stored in a ventilated area until planting in autumn. Tulips differ from other early-flowering bulbs in that they are ideal for cutting and forming bouquets.
Herbaceous early flowering perennials
Perennials are very convenient for growing, as they do not take much time and are usually less whimsical than annuals. For several years in a row, they occupy a permanent place in the garden, grow and delight with decorativeness. Knowing the exact timing of flowering plants, you can form the so-called gardens of continuous flowering, highly decorative throughout the warm season.
Spring primrose
Primrose - the most numerous early perennial in terms of varietal characteristics. The first green leaves of the plant appear in March and bloom from April to May. Primrose bushes are compact, from 8 to 20 cm high. Inflorescences are simple or double white, yellow, burgundy. Propagated by dividing the bush and seeds. It can be grown outdoors and in containers.
Among the variety of varieties, there are representatives with flowers similar to muscari, they are called so - muscariodes. There are so-called candelabra primroses, the peduncles of which are very tall, and the inflorescences are arranged in a circle in a ring.
Varieties are highly decorative:
- high primrose (Alba, Colossea, Rosea);
- toothed primrose (with inflorescences in the form of a ball of blue or purple);
- large-cup primrose (with yellow flowers of heterogeneous color, has medicinal properties).
Primroses are divided into early flowering, medium flowering and late flowering, and some species bloom 2 times per season - in early spring and late summer.
Hellebore Caucasian
Hellebore - differs from other early flowering ones in that it is planted in the garden in early spring, as soon as the soil thaws a little. Its greenery remains decorative throughout the season due to its dense and tough green leaves. The plant is frost-resistant, strong and highly decorative. It blooms from February in warm regions, in cold regions - from April. In the garden, they use hybrid varieties that differ in the variety of flower colors and their diameters. The hellebore can be white, purple, yellow, and pink.
Long-haired anemone
Anemone is a delicate and unpretentious flower, popularly called the Anemone. It blooms in April with white, pink, pale purple flowers on high stems. There are both simple and hybrid forms with double flowers. It grows quickly due to the creeping rhizome, most often its growth must be restrained. After the plant has faded, the greenery of the bush remains decorative until the beginning of winter. In a lingering and warm autumn, the anemone blooms again.
Terry marsh marigold
Kaluzhnitsa is an inhabitant of humid and swampy regions. In the garden, it is used to decorate reservoirs. It is a compact shrub with bright yellow flowers. The hybrids have double flowers.
Early and mid-flowering primroses include daisies, forget-me-nots, periwinkle, bathers and dicentra, whose flowers look like a broken heart. All of them are unpretentious and perfectly adapted to the climatic conditions of the middle zone.
Rare exotic
In a temperate climate, adapted varieties of tropical plants do well. One of them is Ornithogalum, a bulbous relative of hyacinth. The second name of the plant is Poultry.
Ornithogalum umbrella
The following types of this primrose winter well and are unpretentious in care:
- umbellate (narrow thin leaves, white flowers, forms a lush green bush, blooms in April-May);
- drooping (height 40 cm, narrow leaves, tall peduncles, spike inflorescence, strewn with small white bells);
- balance (winter-hardy dwarf species 15 cm high with large white flowers, color in May).
Sanguinaria terry
Sanguinaria Canadian - a miniature flower that blooms as soon as the snow melts. Long bloom - about 3-4 weeks. The flowers are like tiny water lilies. This is a representative of the poppy family, whose homeland is North America.
The plant is shade-tolerant, frost-resistant, unpretentious. Not affected by diseases and pests, multiplies by plots. In the garden it is planted under trees and shrubs, quickly grows to whole fields.
Siberian Kandyk
Kandyk is a rare bulbous plant from the lily family, outwardly similar to cyclamen. It blooms in April, and flowers and leaves with brown spots are decorative. Forms dense bushes 30-40 cm high. Peduncles are tall, on which there are drooping flowers with bent petals of white, pink, purple and other shades. A winter-hardy and unpretentious plant, native to the northern regions.
Early garden flowers have one major advantage - they are eagerly awaited to bloom. It is they who symbolize the arrival of the long-awaited spring, even if there is still snow in the yard and the frost grows stronger at night.