Jump Start Your Garden with Early Spring Flowers

As winter’s grip stars to slip away, the first little spurts of warm weather tease, the grass shows signs of greening, and gardeners begin to anticipate the start of spring and flowers to come. A great way to get a head start on the season and to fulfill the need for growing a little something is to plant a variety of early blooming flowers that can withstand a bit of the lingering chill. In this blog post, we'll go over a handful of our tried and true early spring flowers – snapdragons, stock, larkspur, and bupleurum – all of which can be started very early. We’ll also provide a few tips on kickstarting ranunculus and planting them before the last frost, so you can have all of these beauties blooming at the same time for bouquets!

Growing flowers in zone 5b, our last frost date is usually around mid May. To jump start our growing season, we start early spring flowers in February to be able to have flowers blooming by late April clear through to mid June. This is a great way to have flowers blooming super early!

All of the seeds we start in February are allowed to grown in a heated propagation house, then we harden them off and plant out into the ground around any time between mid to the end of March. Most of the little seedlings to in a covered hoop house, but many of them will be planted directly into the ground. For those seedlings, planted in the ground, you have to make sure that if the temperatures drop below 25° F that they are covered with a frost cloth temporarily. During the warmer day temperatures, this will need to be removed.

Today, we’re sharing a great list of seeds we’re starting right now to have flowers as early as possible for spring bouquets.

Seeds We’re Starting Now

Agrostemma

Also called Corn Cockle (a terrible name) is a gorgeous early spring flower that adds a decicate airy touch to spring bouquets.

Stock: Stock, with its fragrant, densely packed flowers, is another cold-loving flower that can be started early. These flowers are not only cold-tolerant but also make delightful additions to cut flower arrangements. Pro-tip: these seeds like exposure to the light, so they need the seeds need to be sown closer to the top of the seed starting mix. We grow both the Katz and Iron series.

Larkspur: Larkspur, with its tall spikes of delicate blooms, is a charming addition to early spring gardens. Larkspur thrives in cooler temperatures and can endure light frosts, gracing your garden with shades of blue, pink, and white. With larkspur, we sow some directly out into the garden, and we also seed start some in trays to be planted out. Both ways work! For more seed starting directions for this flowers, check out our YouTube video.

Snapdragons

Snapdragons are well known for their fun, snap-like blooms that add a playful and beautiful touch to the garden. Our favorite varieties are any of the Costa series, which can be found on Johnny’s website. We also love Potomac Appleblossum, Maryland shell pink, and absolutely any Madame Butterfly series in the spring. They’re so delicate and perfect for early spring bouquets!

Snapdragons benefit from a very consistent, controlled environment. Because our prop house isn’t air tight, it means that the snapdragons will not thrive and will not germinate like we need them to. That was a learning lesson from last year. It was the first time that we’d grown in the propagation house here, and we saw that they needed a little bit more controlled environment, and they need a warmer environment. The warmer, the better for snapdragons.

Nigella

Nigella is also known as love-in-a-mist, is a delicate flower with intricate pastel blooms, perfect for spring bouquets. Its unique foliage and symbolism of love make it versatile and whimsical in various bouquet styles. Whether you use the bloom itself or the cool pod it makes after it blooms, either way is incredible and so fun!

Bupleurum: Bupleurum, an often-overlooked gem, boasts delicate greenish-yellow flowers and adds a unique texture to floral arrangements. This cold-tolerant plant is not only a fantastic filler in bouquets but also offers an airy elegance to your garden beds. This is another one that we included our seed starting tips and tricks for on YouTube. It’s a trickier seed to get started, so be sure to check it out.

Ranunculus: While ranunculus is not as cold-tolerant as some other early spring flowers, they can still be started indoors to get a head start on the growing season. Plant ranunculus tubers in pots or trays about 8-10 weeks before the last frost. Once the threat of frost has passed, transplant them into well-drained soil with plenty of sunlight. These vibrant, rose-like flowers will reward you with a stunning display of color in late spring.

Other GREAT Flowers Perfect for Starting Early Spring:

Ammi
Forget-Me-Not
Dara
Orlaya
Saponaria

We hope this have given y’all some inspiration of some flowers you can start in early spring to have flowers earlier in the season. All of the flowers we mentioned here provide a gorgeous array of color and texture in the garden and for bouquets. By starting these flowers early, providing them with the care they need, you'll be rewarded with a vibrant and flourishing garden and flowers for cutting, as the days grow longer and warmer.

XX Jenn and Adam