Garden: Get spring color in your garden with these plants

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29-03-2025

Now that we have experienced a hint of warm spring weather in Greater Columbus, and grass has begun to green up, I need more color in my landscape. And I need it now.
I can't wait for the colors that my tulips and daffodils will provide in a few weeks, and I definitely can't wait for the rainbow of colors that my annual flowers and herbaceous perennials will provide starting in late spring and early summer.
If, like me, you need some early spring color in your home landscape or in a container on your front doorstep, there are many plants which you can plant in late March and early April to help you survive until the explosion of colors comes later this spring and summer.
Let's take a look at some of the options for flowering plants which I found during my first spring scouting trip to area garden centers recently.
While most annual flowers are tender and cannot be planted unprotected outdoors until the threat of frost has passed, there are some hardy annual flowers which will withstand the cool soil and ambient temperatures of early spring.
My go-to flowering plant for cool weather is the dainty pansy, which survives spring freezes, fall cold snaps and even mild winters in central Ohio. I typically grab two planters of pansies before St. Patrick's Day to add some color to my front porch.
Pansies are technically hardy biennial plants, but we treat them as annuals in this part of the country.
Pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) are among the most popular garden flowers today. You will find a wide variety of colors, sizes and petal markings at local garden centers starting in mid-March.
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The Achilles' heel of the pansy is the heat of summer, even if that heat arrives in late spring! High temperatures cause the plant to become pale and leggy with fewer blooms, so I typically add them to the compost bin when planting summer flowing annuals in May.
Another annual plant which provides color and texture in early spring is flowering kale or ornamental cabbage. While this plant is most associated with autumn, I saw it for sale this month at an area garden center.
Flowering kale can be planted in the ground or in a container, and it's eye-catching when surrounded by other flowers such as pansies.
There are several perennial plants which flower early in the spring and can be planted in the ground or in containers in late March and early April for early spring color. And because they are perennials, these plants will come back every year to provide that pop of early spring color.
Primrose (Primula) plants in a dazzling array of spring colors can be found right now at area garden centers. Their charming clusters of dainty flowers above compact rosettes of crinkled foliage are perfect for window boxes and containers on the doorstep or patio. This is another plant which loves cool temperatures and will wither in the hot temperatures of late spring and summer.
Phlox (Phlox) is a reliable perennial plant which flowers early in the spring and can be found in bloom right now at area garden centers. Phlox is the perfect addition to rock gardens and shrub beds in the home landscape, and creeping and moss varieties make colorful groundcovers in the landscape.
Rockfoil (Saxifraga) is another early spring-flowering groundcover which is flowering right now and can be found at area garden centers and nurseries. This plant does best in locations which receive some shade or dappled sunlight during the summer months.
Pinks, also known as sweet Williams (Dianthus) flower in early spring and can be found in bloom now at area garden centers. Flowers come in many shades of pink, purple and white atop foliage which has a blue tint. These perennial plants prefer full-sun locations.
Another early spring-flowering plant which you will find right now at garden centers is ranunculus (Ranunculus asiaticus), also known as Persian buttercup. This plant produces beautiful flowers in a wide variety of reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and white with ruffled petals that appear to be made of crepe paper.
Ranunculus is a cool-season perennial which grows from a tuberous root but will not survive cold winters in central Ohio. The best early spring use of this plant is in a pot or basket on the doorstep or garden bench.
In late March and April, there simply is no other flower that can provide the dazzling pastel colors of ranunculus.
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Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have always been a staple in my herbaceous perennial bed outside the kitchen window, and they have never been harvested as an herb!
I planted them because their distinctive globe-shaped purple flowers provide early spring color, and their foliage adds texture and variety to the garden.
They require absolutely no care and will flower again in the fall after I prune them back in late summer.
My chives are nearly 10 inches tall right now and should flower in the next 10 days.
Mike Hogan is Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources and associate professor with Ohio State University Extension.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Garden: Flowers to help bring spring color to your garden