As the weather warms up, the garden comes alive! And that means you should prepare the garden for the spring season!

Springtime is the best time to plant flowering plants. As the summer and fall seasons roll in, you can enjoy a garden teeming with colorful blooms, and the fragrant air would make you want to hang out outdoors and enjoy nature at its most beautiful. When you’re planning your gardening tasks for spring, keep these gardening tips in mind:

Preparing the Garden for Spring Planting

Step 1: Plan Your Flowering Plants

Before the growing season comes, you need to plan what kinds of colorful flowering plants to grow. This way, your garden will be a riot of amazing colors by the time the summer season rolls in. Start by choosing different kinds of early spring season flowering plants and late-season flowering plants. The early spring flowering plants will fill your space with beautiful flowers at the height of spring, while the late-season blooms extend the look of your spring garden.

Step 2: Clear the Garden of Dead Growth

Once the weather warms enough to make the ground easier to work with, clear the garden of unwanted debris like dead leaves, weeds, rocks, and dead branches. Dig the soil about 2 to 3 inches and work it to loosen the particles. If you use raised beds, clearing the garden of dead growth is much easier because the soil within the beds is contained in a space. You can clear the soil of pests and dead growth much more easily.

Step 3: Clean Your Gardening Tools

Be sure that your garden tools are in tip-top shape because you’re going to make full use of them at the start of the growing season! Give your handheld tools a good cleaning, and the rest of the tools, get these sharpened. Some garden tools carry diseases and pests, so disinfect thoroughly before using them.

Step 4: Remove Pests in the Garden

Pests are always lurking in the garden, and once the weather warms up, they’ll snap out of hibernation, ready to munch on your pring flowerss! The key here is to avoid giving aphids, slugs, snails, and other hibernating pests a chance to reach your plants. Use natural deterrents to keep nibbling insects at bay. Clean your gardening tools to minimize the risk of contamination.

When the threat of the last frost has passed, you can start planting the flowering plants. Or, if you’re growing early spring plants, you can start planting these as soon as the soil becomes workable.

5 Early Spring Flowers to Grow

Thinking of starting the growing season early? Some flowering plants could be grown even before the threat of frost has passed. They’ll require some babying but once established; these cool-season flowering plants make it possible to grow a garden full of flowers early in the spring season!

Bleeding Heart: Despite the name, this flowering plant produces the most unique-looking blooms - like little hearts that dangle down the length of a branch. Bleeding heart plant tends to go dormant when the temperature warms. It thrives in cooler climates, in zones 2 to 9. Choose a spot that gets full sunshine with some shade and grows near late-spring blooms to keep your garden looking full and balanced once the bleeding hearts grow dormant.

Bloodroot: A typical ground cover with beautiful white flowers, the bloodroot plant adds a summery, woodland look to the garden. The blue-green leaves make a terrific backdrop for summer flowers. Most groundcovers turn invasive but not bloodroot. It doesn’t require much care, but it’s best grown in low-traffic areas because it’s toxic to pets and small children. Bloodroot is best grown in zones 3 to 8; it’s perfect in places that get the full sun but will also thrive in partly shady environments. Bloodroot is best grown in rich, well-draining acidic soil.

False Forget-Me-Not: AKA Siberian bugloss, this early spring stunner produces vivid blue flowers that add a nice pop of color to a garden. False forget me not flower emerges early in the spring season and will require regular pruning as the weather heats up. Just cut the tattered leaves during the summer season. It’s a slow-growing plant, so you have to be patient if you want to spread its growth all over the garden. False forget me not is best grown in zones 3 to 8 and will require rich, well-drained moist soil.

Helleborus: Some varieties of Helleborus can grow early in the spring season, as early as January and February! This slow-growing evergreen perennial takes a long time to bloom but once established; it will fill your garden with gorgeous maroon flowers. Helleborus could live for decades too! This flowering plant is best grown in a partly shady spot with rich, moist, well-draining soil. Helleborus grow best in zones 4 to 9, but this depends on the species.

Pigsqueak: This flowering plant is an early spring bloomer, and once established, it produces dainty pink, red, white, and violet flowers in big clumps. The flowers are glossy and turn a nice bronze-red. Pigsqueak spreads through rhizomes, but it’s not an aggressive grower. If the plant becomes overgrown, you can divide it every few years. Pigsqueak is best grown in zones 4 to 8, in a full to a partly shady spot. It loves rich, moist, well-draining soil.

5 Late Spring Flowers to Grow

Lilac: Relatively low maintenance, lilac is prized for its gorgeous blooms that perfume the air. It’s easy to grow and will live for years! Lilac is best grown in zones 3 to 7, in a place that gets the full sun. You can plant this flowering shrub in April or May. After producing flowers, remove the leftover blooms, so the plant grows stronger roots. Lilac hates wet soils and will produce fewer flowers when the roots are exposed to excessive moisture.

Allium: A flowering plant that produces big, bold flowers from May to June. Allium belongs in the same family as onions but it’s cultivated for its flowers. The bulbs could be planted in the fall season in cold regions and spring in warmer zones. Allium is fairly low maintenance, it requires full sun with part shade. It grows best in zones 4 to 9.

Jacob's Ladder: Jacob's Ladder is a late bloomer, producing striking blue, pink, yellow, white, or purple blooms from April to May. The plant isn't as hardy as most flowering plants on this list but once established, Jacob's Ladder will rebloom late in the summer season. Water deeply to encourage more blooms for longer. Adding balanced fertilizers early in the spring season will also extend its blooming stage. Jacob's Ladder is grown best in zones 4 to 8, in semi to fully shaded areas of the garden.

Pansy: Add a pop of bright, cheerful colors to your garden with pansies, even if it’s late in the spring season. Pansies are quite resilient, able to handle chilly winds and light frosts with ease. Some varieties do not do well in the heat of the summer season but will spring back to life in the fall. Newer pansy varieties could handle summer heat well and if you want to extend the blooming season, water deeply and amend the soil with fertilizer - just enough to keep the blooms going and not too much that the pansies turn leggy.

Roses: Roses can be planted early in the spring season (just after the last frost) or in the fall season (about 6 weeks before the average first frost). We suggest planting early if you want to give the roots more time to mature and avoid going dormant over the winter season. But if you want to fill your garden with gorgeous roses late in the growing season, grow bare-root roses. Roses love moist, well-draining soil that’s rich in organic matter. To ensure an impressive blooming season, grow the roses in a place that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight every day. Any less will lead to weak plants that do not produce many flowers.

When should I plant spring flowers?

Generally, you should plant spring flowers only when the threat of frost has passed. The earliest time to plant flowers in the spring season is two to three weeks before the threat of frost has passed.

There are hardy perennials that can be planted in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked - even if it’s several weeks before the last frost of the season. Tender flowers won‘t survive frost, but half-hardy and hardy flowering plants could.

What perennial flowers can you plant in the spring?

As long as the soil condition is ideal, you can plant perennials in the early spring season. Planting early in the spring season means longer days with more sunlight. This ensures a full blooming season. Late springtime planting allows plants to grow stronger roots, enabling plants to produce flowers longer.

The best perennials to grow in the springtime are:

• Lenten Rose
• Candytuft
• Carnations
• Creeping Phlox
• Forget-Me-Not

These perennials produce blooms between March to April.

For late-spring planting, here are some perennials to consider:

• Tickseed
• Yarrow
• Hyssop
• Coneflower
• Blanket Flower
• Shasta Daisy
• Garden Phlox
• Black-Eyed Susan

These flowering perennials produce blooms between May to September.

What can I plant in the spring for flowering now?

With the full sun reaching the garden, these flowering plants will fill your outdoor space with beautiful flowers and a gorgeous fragrance:

• Daffodils
• Crocus
• Helleborus
• Muscari
• Fruit tree blossom
• Hyacinth
• Tulip
• Iris
• Meadow sage
• Lavender

Try any of the tips we’ve outlined above if you want to start gardening early this year! With these gardening tips, you can transform any parts of your outdoor space - patio, deck, backyard, or front yard - into a beautiful, fragrant, and colorful garden throughout the spring to fall season. Remember, early and late springtime gardening is all about getting the timing right!