allium Archives - Loreeebee

Spring is my favourite season. I love the fact that the plants in gardens, roadsides, and parks start strutting their stuff, with changes every day. My own gardens don’t disappoint me every spring. In fact, I am known to just wander/putter around enjoying the new growth on a daily basis. If you too love cheery blossoms in spring, here are a few spring-blooming plants to consider for your yard and gardens…

Magnolias

My spring starts off with the star magnolia in my front yard. From afar, the blossoms look like pom poms, brightening up my yard even before the leaves emerge. Up close they are even more spectacular. This tree gets more gorgeous every year. I have complete strangers stopping to take pictures of this spring-blooming favourite.

Another magnolia blooms a bit later in my backyard. This beauty is the Ann variety, with blossoms that change in shape as they progress…

Forsythia Plants are Spring-Blooming

After my white star magnolia blooms and drops its flowers, forsythia bushes brighten the neighbourhood with their striking yellow blossoms. My neighbour’s is especially pleasing to me as I enjoy this view from my front windows:

I have a forsythia shrub in my backyard too, but it is still small and not as effectively placed as the beauty above.

Plum Trees

Next to bloom in my gardens are my plum trees, usually. This year their blossoms were barely there thanks to the birds. This is what they are supposed to look like:

Plum trees are very fragrant when blooming too, another sign of spring. Unfortunately, my husband suffers from seasonal allergies, so he does not find them as appealing as I do.

Apple and Crab Apple Trees

Next up in the spring-blooming parade are my McIntosh apple trees. This year they are particularly gorgeous…

…perhaps because the plum trees were not. The apple trees are loaded with bees too; I’m doing my part to keep them thriving!

Around the same time as the apple trees in my backyard, the crab apple tree in my front yard and in yards all across this city is in full bloom, ranging from the palest of pink to light pink to my own darker almost-wine-colored version. Whatever the variety, they are all beautifully spring-like.

Lilac Trees and Bushes

While most lilac trees and bushes are in bloom by now, with their distinct and fragrant blossoms, mine does not bloom until early June. After the plum and apple trees have shown off. These lilacs are still spring bloomers by calendar standards, but not quite a harbinger of spring in my yard.

Shrub Roses

Shrub roses (usually) bloom earlier and for longer than rose bushes, but of course, there are exceptions. My favourite shrub rose, with pale yellow five-lobed petals and lemony yellow centers, is just starting to bloom now while my crab apple tree is still going strong.

A few other varieties of pink shrub roses throughout my gardens will wait a few weeks before they decide to bloom.

Roses of the climbing or bushes type wait for the hotter days (and nights) of summer to perform.

Spring Bulbs

Spring bulbs are planted in the fall to provide early spring colour in your gardens. Early tulips and daffodils are currently blooming, with allium still working on their strappy leaves and tall stems. The alliums will be blooming soon too, with the later variety of tulips. With summer still a month away, these later tulips and allium are still considered spring-blooming bulbs.

Rhododendrons

Another spring-blooming shrub is the rhododendron, fast becoming one of my favourite for all of my gardens including my own. They too range in colour, including white, pale pink, hot pink, red, and purply pink.

I have a story that I tell anyone who will listen of how I was introduced to rhododendrons. Currently, I choose them for most of my clients’ part-sun gardens, especially east and northeast-facing ones, their preferred exposure. I have two in my own backyard too, ready to burst out in blossoms any time now…

Other Perennial Plants Blooming in Spring

A few perennials bloom in spring too. A few examples in my gardens are garden sage with pale purple flowers and Jack Frost brunnera which sports green and white heart-shaped leaves and tiny blue flowers:

Groundcovers

There are also several groundcovers that bloom in spring. In my gardens that includes sweet woodruff with delicate leaves and tiny white flowers, as well as lamium with variegated leaves and pearl pink blossoms:

Fiddlehead Ferns

These ferns don’t flower as such, but their fronds are fascinating to watch unfurl. Apparently, fiddleheads are delicious to cook and eat, although I have not tried them. This bed is full of ferns, turning into a lush, green focal point in summer:

Conclusions

There are lots of plants to choose from for spring colour in your gardens. Plant bulbs in the fall or perennials and shrubs anytime the ground is warm enough to dig in.

As a professional gardener, I often get asked what my favorite perennials and annuals are. I have favorites of both. For those that don’t know the difference, perennials come back every year and annuals must be planted new each year after the danger of frost has passed in the spring. I have favourites of each for different conditions in my garden.

For full sun, hot and dry conditions, I am very fond of ornamental grasses; there are many varieties, both annual and perennial, that range from short to very tall in height, all with different seed heads, colors, and leaf shapes:

Most require very little care, simply cut back the perennial ones to a few inches early in the spring, before new growth appears. If you don’t like the appearance of the brown, dead-looking grass in the off-season, you can cut the plant back in the fall instead, but I like the look of the grass in the winter landscape. The annual variety dies as soon as frost arrives in the fall/winter, simply pull it out and discard it.

My new favorite perennial this summer is Russian Sage. It blooms from July to October, with wispy pale purple flower stalks and fine, lacy leaves. It is absolutely gorgeous and requires very little maintenance.

Russian Sage is also very easy to care for in your garden, in fact pruning is only necessary if the plant gets out of shape, which it rarely does. If you do wish to cut it back, do so in spring, but wait until the new growth greens up. Do not cut into the old wood. Russian Sage, like the ornamental grasses, also likes full sun and hot, dry conditions.

In part sun areas of your garden, my favorite perennial plant would be a geranium. Not the annual red or white geraniums of your grandmother’s day that you put in planters each spring (these are my least favorite annuals) but the hardy perennial variety. They come in many sizes and colors including blue, pink, purple, white, and magenta; all do well in part sun and part shade, some even tolerate full shade. This picture shows only one of the many varieties available:

Another favorite part sun to shade perennial plant is sedge, which looks like a short version of the ornamental grasses mentioned above, but prefers moist soil and tolerates part to full shade.

My favorite annual plant continues to be cleome, although zinnias are becoming a new favourite.

In the bulb category, alliums are my favourite. They are planted in the fall for a spectacular display in the spring and early summer. They do multiply, so you don’t have to replant every year unless you want to add more clumps of them. They too like hot dry conditions in the garden. To keep the squirrels from eating them on you, plant daffodil bulbs around the allium bulbs; squirrels hate daffodils! Alliums come in blue, white, and my all-time favorite, purple:

Although I have not met many plants I do not like, I have decided recently that my least favorite is the purple sand cherry, known for its deep red/purple colored leaves. It tends to look good for a few years, after which it tends to become leggy and out of control if not pruned hard and often. I have encountered quite a few in the overgrown, neglected gardens I have restored this season; all were difficult to restore. An easier alternative to the purple sand cherry would be a ninebark, weigela, barberry, or black lace elderberry, pictured below in that order, all available in many varieties, and all with that nice, deep red coloring to contrast with all the green in your garden:

Of course, these are MY favorite perennials and annuals, I’m sure you all have your own. Please feel free to share!