By Marcy
Hurray, it’s Spring! Here are some early blooming flowers to enjoy.
Winter Aconite is often seen blooming through snow in February even before crocus make their debut. Its whorled leaves form a collar beneath golden yellow buttercup-like flowers.
Blood Root is a perennial plant with a white flower that blooms in early spring. It belongs to the poppy family (Papaveraceae ) and grows in wooded areas throughout the northeastern regions of the United States and Canada.
Trillium are attractive spring wildflowers of the family Liliaceae (lily family), native to North America and E Asia. The leaves, petals, and sepals are characteristically in threes, and the single flower may be white, pink, dark red, yellow, or green.
Christmas Rose – Hellebores are noted for their early blooming, particularly the black hellebore or Christmas rose (H. niger), with evergreen leaves and white or greenish blossoms that resemble wild roses
Lily of the Valley – Lilies of the valley live in shady places and have delicate bell-shaped, fragrant white flowers growing on a stalk between two shiny leaves.
Skunk Cabbage is our first almost-spring wildflower. It thrives in out-of-the-way wet pockets of woodlands.
Columbine – Popular both as wildflowers and as garden flowers, Columbines have delicate and attractive foliage and flower petals with long spurs that secrete nectar
Creeping Phlox – Blooming in blue, pink, reddish-purple or white, creeping phlox is always a welcome sign of spring. Mowing or shearing the plants as soon as blooms fade is usually all it takes to keep the moss-like, evergreen foliage handsome year-round
Primrose is recorded from late Middle English and means literally ‘first rose’.
Periwinkle, also called creeping myrtle (Vinca minor /Dart’s Blue), spreads rapidly to form a low, evergreen ground cover
Sweet Woodruff (Asperula odorata) is an excellent choice for shady spots and damp areas. In late spring, the herb produces loose sprays of white flowers above a drift of narrow, whorled leaves.
Bishop’s Weed – This ground cover with lovely variegated leaves will tolerate any type of soil, sun or shade, and doesn’t mind being moist or dry.
Redbud – A tree that is covered along the branches in the early spring with deep rose or (rarely) white flowers resembling pea blossoms.
Daffodils – their bright yellow flowers are associated with the approach of spring.
Tulips have deep, cup-shaped blossoms of various rich colors.
Crocuses – these lilac, mauve, yellow, or white blooms are cultivated for their showy, solitary flowers, which are among the first to appear in the spring. www.dictionary.com.
Grape Hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) bring early spring color to perennial flower beds and borders. The small flower spikes are covered in small, grape-like blooms and are often the first plants to flower. http://homeguides.sfgate.com
Credits: All text entries are drawn from Encyclopedia.com unless otherwise indicated. The free images are from Google.com.