These 5 Classic Spring Flowers Are Icons for a Reason – Plant Them Now for a Cheery Garden All Season Long

They say that April showers bring May flowers, but in my experience, you have to do a little work to get this to happen. Mother Nature may scatter wildflowers here and there in wild areas, but they probably won’t appear naturally in rows in your garden beds. If you’re hoping for a cheery garden full of classic spring flowers, it’s best to pick your favorites and prepare your soil now.

Many gardeners love bulbs. The flowers are gloriously bright and bloom bright, but you have to plant them in fall. Instead, look for different types of flowers that you can seed now for mid-to-late spring blooms. Whether you want fragrance or amazing visuals or both, there are plenty of plants with spring blossoms that will bring beauty to your garden for the entire season.

Whatever you pick, now’s the time to get spring flowers in the ground. Buy the supplies, work your garden beds, and prepare for a fabulous season. Here are my top picks for bright and lasting spring beauty.

1. Lupine

Lupine (Lupinus spp.) is a classic spring flower that, for some reason, isn't very common in many gardens. But this old-fashioned plant seems to be coming back into fashion – thank goodness!

Its tall, stately blooms come in a variety of colors. From pink to purple to yellow and orange, there's a cultivar that will fit just about any garden color palette. Flowers emerge in spring but can last well into summer, adding a gorgeous architectural element to garden beds.

These beautiful spring flowers are deer-resistant, so you won't have to worry about greedy grazers munching on your early blooms. This makes them a good alternative to other spring plants that deer love to eat, like tulips. But be aware the lupines are toxic to many animals, including pets and humans, if ingested so be careful where you plant them.

You can start lupine easily from seeds or transplants, both of which are available from Burpee.

2. Phlox

It’s hard to find an easier spring perennial than creeping phlox (Phlox subulata). With bright, star-shaped flowers from spring through summer, this butterfly favorite is a showstopper. It grows and spreads rapidly to create a flowery carpet in early spring, adding bright color and texture to beds and borders.

Note that there are many different varieties of phlox, so if you prefer something a little taller or a lot taller, phlox is still the ticket. Tall garden phlox (P. paniculata) offers fragrant, tall blooms in summer on stalks up to 5 feet (2.5 m) tall. There are also ankle-high phlox plants and middle-size plants as well. All require little effort once established.

The perfect time to plant phlox is in the spring, after your last frost date. Do yourself a favor and grow phlox from transplants, which are widely available in garden stores in spring or you can order phlox online now from Burpee.

3. Primrose

Do you want a spring-blooming plant with a classic look? Check out the primrose (Primula spp.), with its bright flowers that will light up your garden beds or containers. The plant’s foliage forms low rosettes of dark green leaves from which emerge the stems – sometimes to 20 inches (51 cm) tall, depending on the variety – topped by clusters of bright flowers. They are easy to grow flowers that are easy to maintain.

Although the name “primrose” might lead you to think differently, these flowers are not related to the rose family. The petals, however, are positioned like those of wild roses. In fact the name “primrose” means “the first rose” in Latin, a nod both to their flower shape and their early blooms. They are among the first flowers to appear in the garden in spring, making them invaluable to pollinators. But beware: the plants are poisonous to both humans and pets.

I don’t recommend planting primrose seeds. It’s possible, but not practical since germination depends on keeping the seeds at an exact temperature. Instead, buy a variety of starts at the garden center or shop primroses online from Lowe's for immediate color.

Transplant them into an area with rich, well-draining soil in dappled sun or partial shade. Space plants between 6 and 12 inches (15-30 cm) apart and provide a deep drink after planting.

4. Sweet Alyssum

Talk about small flowers that make a big impact! Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is a flowering ground cover that's perfect for blanketing your landscape with colorful blooms. Each of the tiny, cross-shaped flowers has four petals that come in white, purple, or pink. Bees and butterflies are big fans and humans, too, thanks to their lovely fragrance.

Since sweet alyssum grows in a spreading carpet, it can create a lovely living mulch for taller plants. It also works well in cracks in a wall or along walkways.

This is an easy plant to grow from seed. You can find alyssum seeds from Amazon here. Just a few months after seeding, the ground will be covered with gray-green lance-shaped leaves and then flowers. It’s quicker to buy starts, though, which you can set outside as soon as the final spring frost is past. Home Depot has gorgeous 'Golden Spring' alyssum plants for sale now.

These are cool-season plants, preferring the cooler days of spring and fall to summer’s heat. They may fade back in the hottest days of summer, but will bounce back as autumn arrives.

5. Daylilies

Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.) are dramatically gorgeous flowers that look a lot like lilies, but they are really not lilies at all. Lilies are in the Lilium genus, while daylilies are in the Hemerocallis genus. Lilies grow from bulbs, daylilies from seeds. But there is a resemblance, since daylilies are also shaped like large trumpet flowers.

Depending on where you live, daylilies can start flowering in early spring. However, the further north, the later the blooms. But most will begin flowering by June.

An interesting fact about daylilies: each flower only lasts one day. But don’t think the species is short-lived! In fact, these flowers seem to live forever. That’s because of the vast number of blooms. Each plant can have 4-6 plant stems, and each stem produces 12 to 15 flower buds. So despite each bloom's rapid growth and demise, the flowers just keep coming. A mature plant can have 4 to 6 scapes that hold blooms, which is why this plant seems to flower continuously.

There are many types of daylilies, so you are sure to find something to fit your space. Some are no taller than your hand, others are 5 feet (2.5 m) tall. Flowers can be red, orange, yellow, pink, or maroon. Shop a wide array of daylilies from Nature Hills Nursery in every color of the rainbow. All grow fast and live long, shrugging off summer heat and autumn chill. Plant them in a site with full or partial sun and loamy, well-draining soil.