Early Blooming Spring Perennials

The holidays are finally over.  I dont know what it is, but leading up to Christmas I can't get enough snow.  I think that chilly days are festive and that evergreens look majestic next to skeleton-like maples.  But come the 26th the Christmas tree cant come down fast enough and I rush to my mailbox every afternoon to see if the Burpee catalog has arrived.  My feelings about snow go from festive to tolerant, as I remind myself that the snow showers of January and February provide for luschious July gardens. 

In anticipation for a spring that will come, I've compiled a few of my early spring favorites.  These are the resiliant few that can withstand the sometimes frigid Utah spring nights.  I've put them outdoors in early March and had great success {as well as much needed outdoor color}.  A word of warning: although the plants themselves can withstand  very cool tempuratures, night time frosts can damage the colorful blossoms.  By covering blooms with a frost cloth, towel, or sheet, you can keep the frost from settling on the blooms. 

All My Friends are Flowers

Favorite Hardy Early Blooming Perennials

1) Bellis or English Daisy {Bellis perennis}

picture found here

This daisy comes in solid or mixed colors and works well in containers or beds.

USDA Zones: 4-8
Height: 6-12''
Width: 6''
Sun: Full Sun
Bloom Time: early-mid spring, early-mid fall

2) Rockfoil {Saxifraga x arendsii}

picture found here

USDA Zones: 4-8
Height: 6-8''
Width: 6-9''
Sun: Full Sun
Bloom Time: early-mid spring

3) English Primrose {Primula vulgaris}

picture found here

USDA Zones: 3-9
Height: 6-8''
Width: 6-9''
Sun: Full Sun
Bloom Time: early-mid spring

Looking for more early spring color?  Click on a picture below to check out other All My Friends favorites!