This time of year can become long and full of anticipation for spring flowers. You can plan now for different plants to add to your landscape to help with winter interest next year, even flowers.
Helleborus
Lenten Rose or Helleborus is a perennial plant with evergreen leaves. It grows up to 15-18 inches in tall and wide and it will colonize in good growing conditions. The leaves are not compound but are deeply serrate into 7-9 segments. Helleborus blooms from the end of February into March with blooms that can last until June. The flowers are cupped, 4 inches wide and vary in color from white or cream, to rose, to purple and more. Be careful with this plant, it is toxic if consumed and if you contact the sap, it can cause dermatitis.
Snowdrops
Common snowdrops is a bulb that blooms from March to April. It has narrow, grass-like leaves that emerge in late winter followed by white flowers that droop down. After snowdrops bloom, they go completely dormant for the year. Snowdrops only grow to 4-6 inches tall. It provides short-term interest but does continue to come back every year. It adds an early burst of spring to your otherwise dormant landscape.
Crocus
Crocus is another early spring bulb, blooming in March or early April with flowers that have six petals. The 2-3 inch blooms can range in color from white to purple to yellow and will close up on cloudy days and at night. Crocus has grasslike foliage that is very narrow and has a white stripe down the center. It will bloom before the foliage fully appears and then after only a few weeks, the whole plant is dormant again. If left alone, crocus will spread from year to year. I really enjoy crocus in my garden as an indicator that spring is on the way.
Daffodils
Daffodils can be found in many color combinations but always within white, yellow, and orange with occasional green flowers. The flowers are typically held singly on the stalks and droop over. Daffodils will grow in clumps with slender, strap-like leaves that emerge before the flowers. The flowers appear from March-May, depending on the species. They can grow 6-18 inches tall depending on the variety.
Tulips
Tulips are very commonly known flowers for spring. There are so many color and flower options, you can have fun choosing what to put into your garden and add more as you go. The bloom time differs between the varieties, so you can get tulip bloom from early through late spring. Some of the newer varieties are not as hardy or as reliable re-bloomers so don’t be surprised if they don’t last long in your garden.
Planting Spring Bloomers
If you are looking at your garden, thinking that you would like some tulips, daffodils, or other spring blooming bulbs, now is not the time to plant them. Spring blooming bulbs should be planted in the early part of October. This gives them time to grow some roots and then bloom the following spring. Purchase bulbs at the time of planting, rather than purchasing them now and storing them until the fall when they can be planted. Helleborus can be planted in the spring or fall, knowing that they will not bloom until next winter.
Take time now to plan additions or changes to your landscape, so next fall you can purchase and plant your bulbs. Schedule time in early October to plant spring blooming bulbs and you will love the outcome next spring.
If you already have spring blooming bulbs, enjoy them. And remember don’t prune the foliage off until it dies back in the early summer to allow it to build nutrients to bloom again next spring.
If you have any further questions please contact Nicole Stoner at (402) 223-1384, nstoner2@unl.edu, visit the Gage County Extension website at www.gage.unl.edu, or like my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NicoleStonerHorticulture and follow me on twitter @Nikki_Stoner
Nicole Stoner
Extension Educator
Gage County
February 2024