Spring: You See How to Create a Lavishly Visual Rebirth in Your Yard

Spring is an exciting time in the yard. Yes, gardeners plant in the spring. Someone started a flower last fall. Or a gardener planted it a hundred years ago.

Trees are usually planted in the spring or fall as small plants and may take several years to bloom. Most trees or shrubs don’t bloom immediately. Sometimes they take several years to bloom. Some plants take years to grow or to spread.

This article is about plants living in zone 7. Find the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map here. For the little winters of Tennessee read “The five little winters of Tennessee” on the Half Hill Farm website.

Redbud Winter: early April
Dogwood Winter: late April
Locust Winter: early May
Blackberry Winter: mid-May
Britches Winter: late May
from The five little winters of Tennessee

Trees that Bloom in the Spring

Redbud trees are easy to grow and usually live a long time. Dogwood trees are hard to start and may live for a long time or die quickly.

“What is Blackberry Winter? Or Redbud Winter? Or Dogwood Winter?” by Darius Van d’Rhys, March 30, 2011, in Dave’s Garden gives a good explanation of redbud winter. Check the article “What is Dogwood Winter?” , as well.

There is an Easter poem that describes how the dogwood tree came to be the way it is today.

Flowering Dogwood
Eastern Redbud
Crab Apple
some Magnolias
Saucer Magnolia
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) – evergreen and can get very large
some Cherry Trees
Pear Tree

Spring = Red bud in group if trees — Redbud Tree in Group of Trees

Trimming shrubs is best done right after they bloom to prevent cutting off next years blooms. The forsythia shown here grows fast. The bridal-wreath grows more slowly. The azaleas and rhododendrons grow very slowly.

You can multiply forsythia and hydrangeas multiply by laying a stem on the ground. It should be attached to the plant. Cover the stem with dirt and hold it down with something heavy. You may just want to dig up some of it as it is.

Forsythia – full sun, yellow, grows quickly
Bridal-wreath spiraea – white, grows slowly
Azaleas & Rhododendron – for shade, grows slowly

Spring - Forsythia — Forsythia in Landscape

Spring - Bridal-Wreath Spiraea — Bridal-Wreath Spiraea

Spring - Close-up of Azalea — Close-up of Azalea

Spring - Azalea in Full Bloom — Azalea in Full Bloom

Spring - Azaleas - Red and Pink — Azaleas – Red and Pink

Bulbs that Flower in Spring

The leaves supply bulbs food for growth. A buttercup bulb looks much like an onion. All parts of a buttercup are poisonous. I recently learned – spraying a yard with chemicals can kill buttercups. Oh, no, I have buttercups everywhere. Don’t spray your yard, if you want buttercups there. There is a granular pre-emerge that controls seeds from sprouting. This is not good for buttercups either. Where it is dispersed can be controlled if the area is level. There are flowers that seem to be perennial. They reseed themselves yearly. A pre-emerge will kill them.

I tried to dig buttercups out of a vegetable garden space one year. They just grew better the next year. I tried to dig some of them out of a vegetable garden space and they just grew better the next year.

There are many different types of bulb flowers. Buttercups alone have various types that grow throughout the season. Buttercups are usually quite easy to transplant. Most varieties of buttercups multiply quickly. It helps to divide them often.

Snowdrops are not easy to transplant. They can be moved in clumps without disturbing the dirt around them.

The Star of Bethlehem may show up anywhere. Perhaps squirrels move them around.

Irises actually have rhizomes. They do well on small slopes. Irises multiply and need dividing often.

Crocus – often the first flower to be seen. They may bloom in the snow.
Daffodil, Narcissus is a genus, sometimes called buttercups (not actually buttercups)
Tulips – often die out after one year
Hyacinths
Snowdrops
Star of Bethlehem
and more

Spring - Yellow and White Daffodils — Yellow and White Daffodils

Spring - Close-up of Yellow and White Daffodil — Close-up of Yellow and White Daffodil

Spring -mClose-up of Snowdrops — Close-up of Snowdrops

Spring - Star of Bethlehem — Star of Bethlehem

Vines that bloom in the Spring

Clematis
Perennial Sweet Pea
Carolina Jasmine
Wisteria

Spring - Wisteria — Wisteria – smells good, can be invasive

Groundcovers that Bloom in Spring

Creeping Phlox – can be overgrown or destroyed by faster-growing plants
Vinca minor ‘Traditional’ – AKA Common/Creeping Periwinkle/Myrtle, Creeping
Myrtle – spreads quickly, but may take a while to get started
Vinca Major – spreads quickly

Vinca Minor – has blue flowers much like vinca major but darker

Spring - Vinca Major Variagated — Vinca Major, Variegated

Herbaceous Perennials that Bloom in the Spring

I would consider herbaceous perennials small plants that do not fit in any of the other categories. They have a regular root system and come back every year. Solomon’s Seal grows in the shade. Spiderwort will grow almost anywhere you put it. It grows taller in a shady area like it’s trying to reach the sun. Columbine tends to be a bit more temperamental. When I see it I,m delighted.

All of these will grow in the shade. Spiderwort probably will do ok in the sun. Theseplants are usually bought already grown at a nursery.

Solomon’s Seal
Spiderwort
Columbine

Spring - Columbine — Columbine – Had not bloomed by Easter 2019

Wild Plants that Bloom in the Spring

Wild is a debatable term. A plant that may be considered wild in some areas may be highly sought after in other areas. Wild may be thought to be detrimental or useless. This is not true. All parts of dandelions are edible. Many of the wild plants are edible, but more modern plants may be poisonous.