I’ve been told by gardeners more times than I can count that they find their greatest gardening joy in the early spring flowers. But they’re usually talking about daffodils and tulips, magnolias, forsythias, and dogwoods that blossom in April and May.

Few of them realize that even before they welcome these flowers, they can enjoy a whole season of colorful bloom! This earliest season begins in February and lasts through early April.
Crocus Vernus
Of course, one may often encounter a lawn peppered with Crocus Vernus, a rock garden pocket containing a few kaufmanniana tulips, or sparse snowdrops planted by the front steps.
Such plantings, however, provide only a fraction of the early-flowering treasures in store from the multitude of easy-to-grow bulbous and semi-bulbous species. Most of these are to be found among the so-called “little” or “miscellaneous” bulbs, the species tulips, or the species narcissus.
These groups will provide the thrill of early color and give a striking landscape effect when planted in large masses. In contrast, others are tiny gems of rare beauty for the horticulturist who wants to grow them for the sake of the small individual flowers.
Snowdrop or Galanthus
The best known of the advance guard of spring is the snowdrop or Galanthus.
In January, this indomitable bulb thrusts sharp pincers through the icy ground, quickly spreading apart to allow the flower stem to rise and bloom at the first sign of winter’s slackening.
It is a rare February that does not see snowdrop blooms. In the mild winters of 1950 and 1951, our garden had intermittent snowdrop blooms during January, February, and March.
Galanthus may often find its first attempt at blossoming checked but not ended by a blast of frigid weather, almost as if winter, angered by the audacity of this brave flower, sought to smite it down.
The attempt is futile. I have seen a colony of snowdrops start opening into a carpet of white, only to be greeted by a snow and ice storm followed by a protracted cold wave.
With the next mild spell, the buds, which had closed tightly at the first icy blow, reopened and closed again as another cold spell descended, only to spread their white bells as soon as the cold wave abated and calmly finish their allotted two- to three-week blooming span.
Effective Planting of Snowdrops
Truly effective plantings of snowdrops are rare because they are not used in sufficient quantities. They should be planted by the hundreds and thousands, not by the dozens.
Since they bloom at a time when the earth is bare, a small planting has a feeble or forlorn appearance that belies the doughty quality of the flower.
But give them the strength of numbers by planting them in sweeps and drifts of bulbs set two to three inches apart, and they’ll make a bold splash indeed.
Snowdrops are inexpensive and easy to plant; with a sharp, narrow trowel, you should be able to plant 300 to 500 bulbs per hour.
Speaking of snowdrops, some years ago, I came upon a sight I shall never forget as I rounded a bend along a country road.
Thousands of snowdrops naturalized among widely spaced myrtle on a lightly wooded slope rising above an abandoned lime kiln.
Blue Chionodoxa and Yellow Winter Aconite
Sweeps of blue chionodoxa and yellow winter aconite bloomed along with the galanthus in the March sunshine.
Naturalized, there also were Dutchman’s breeches and bloodroot. The planting I learned had been made many years earlier, with the happy result of constant and increasing bloom.
The trees allowed just the right amount of summer shade, while their annual fall of leaves added humus to a naturally sweet soil, providing ideal growing conditions.
Not every property has a wooded slope, but nearly every site has an area, perhaps a shady spot where the lawn is not luxuriant, which can be given to a copious planting of snowdrops for late winter beauty.
No matter whether bare patches of soil are left in the summer when the snowdrop foliage disappears, a scattering of Christmas ferns, wood asters, or myrtle will add interest in later months.
Galanthus Species
Galanthus elwesii and G. nivalis are the best known among the snowdrop species commonly available. G. elwesii has a larger flower and likes plenty of sun on its ripening foliage.
The smaller nivalis prefer shade, hence more suited to woodland plantings. The double form, G. nivalis flore-pleno, with green-tipped full double petals is highly effective in mass plantings.
All galanthus bulbs should be given a 3-inch covering of soil. They will survive in almost any kind of medium, be it clay or shale, but, like all the early bulbs, they prefer loamy soil with good humus content.
In very acid soils, a covering of ground limestone over the bulb planting is advisable.
Chionodoxas
Other early bulbs planted in a similar lavish manner as snowdrops yield the same astonishingly powerful beauty. Two of them are chionodoxa or glory-of-the snow, and Eranthis or winter aconite.
Chionodoxa luciliae, with its starry bright blue-white-centered flowers, should be set out in great drifts wherever possible. I know a small place where a large boulder crops out of a lawn bordering a short driveway.
Each March rivulets of bright blue chionodoxa running down the lawn side of this rock foretell the arrival of spring. In a few weeks, the foliage disappears, and the grass is trimmed to the edge of the boulder.
A white form, Chionodoxa luciliae alba, and a pale pink one, C. l. roses are also available.
C. l. Sardensis is a deeper blue, while C. l. Gigantea has slightly longer flower petals of a nearly uniform lilac.
A 2-inch covering of soil is sufficient for chionodoxa. They should be planted 2” to 3” inches apart, then left to naturalize.
Eranthis
Also welcome is Eranthis, or winter aconite. A deep green ruff frames its buttercup-like blossom of bright yellow.
Winter aconites like the late winter sun on their flowers but some protection from the hot rays of summer. We had a flourishing colony of Eranthis hyemalis in a former garden under a high-branching pine.
Each year, we looked forward to their air of bright warmth in the winter scene. Eranthis hyemalis is the best-known species.
E. cilicica has a primrose flower with deep green foliage, and slightly tinged bronze, while E. tubergeni is a hybrid with a deeper yellow color.
Eranthis grow from tubers, which ideally should be planted in August. This seldom happens, for they usually arrive from Holland along with tulips and daffodils, and most gardeners never get around to their fall planting before October.
You can obtain just as good results. However, by soaking the tubers (which look like dried raisins) before planting in wet sand or sawdust for from 24 to 48 hours, or until they plump up.
Species Crocus
Everyone has seen the large-flowered “Dutch” crocus sprinkled over lawns, presenting a cheerful aspect to all but the mowers.
For March beauty, try plantings of the lesser-known species crocus. These have smaller, wilder-looking flowers.
They are excellent for rock gardens and even more effective when naturalized on a bank or beneath white birches or willows.
Crocus sieberi is a lilac-blue. Both C. sieberi and C. etruscans, a lavender, are very early.
Two new C. chrysanthus varieties, E. A. Bowles, a creamy yellow, and E. P. Bowles, a canary yellow, will be charming novelties to those who have never seen a pale yellow crocus.
Lilac C. tomasinianus and the very deep yellow C. susianus will reward you with their prolific expansion through the years.
The light blue grape hyacinth, Hyacinthus azureus (Muscari azureus), is another early flower I would not be without.
By February, on snow-free patches of earth, you can see its tight bud emerging at the base of the spreading foliage.
Once it starts, its spike of tiny bright bluebells rises steadily until it attains a height of 10” inches by mid-April, when the bloom ceases.
It makes a good border for regular hyacinths; although H. azureus starts earlier, its blooms last until the hyacinths have opened.
Early Scillas Planted
Early scillas, planted alone or with clumps of species tulips, are indispensable for spring display.
Scilla bifolia, whose feathery spike of lilac-blue bells rises 6″ inches, appears first and will naturalize in the sun or part shade.
Scilla sibirica, or the blue squill, is the clan’s hardest and most abundant member. When planted in dense masses in open meadows or light woodland, it has no equal for enlivening the early April landscape.
Like muscari, scillas should be grown under a 3-inch covering of soil.
Scilla sibirica coerulea is the type; a white form, S. sibirica alba, also exists.
Scilla sibirica Spring Beauty, is a much-improved form, with two to three 7-inch spikes of an intense deep blue. S. sibirica azurea is a bright light blue species.
I know of one woodland area where for several years, annual plantings of Scilla sibirica Spring Beauty were left to naturalize; now, sheets of blue make this glade a glorious spectacle each spring.
Planted along with the scillas are companion bulbs such as Puschkinia scilloides, whose gray-blue spike closely resembles a scilla, and Leucojum vernum, the true spring snowflake, whose green-tipped white bells hang from 6-inch stems.
Colonies of bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, and light blue Hepatica triloba also flower there in the early season, while here and there are clumps of dogtooth violets, or erythronium, whose mottled brown and green leaves form an interesting background for the delicate lily-like blossoms of white, lilac and cream.
Species Tulips
While the “little” bulbs provide picturesque naturalistic settings for the March and early April landscape, we must depend on the larger-flowered species tulip for garden substance.
Since these are too large for shallow meadow plantings and need too much sun for a woodland spot, they are best grown in regular garden beds, in a rock garden or bank, or on a border in front of evergreen or early-flowering shrubs.
All the species of tulips need a 6-inch covering of soil or even more where the soil is very light.
Tulipa kaufmanniana, whose spreading petals have given it the familiar name of the “waterlily tulip,” is the progenitor of the many fine early varieties now available.
Among the best early Kaufmannianas are The First, Cesar Franck, Scarlet Elegance, and Brilliant.
The First has a deep carmine red blush nearly covering a buff background.
Scarlet-and-gold Cesar Franck lends a welcome tone of warmth to the chill March scene. Scarlet Elegance is a uniform deep scarlet, while Brilliant is a solid rosy carmine.
Our garden has no more fetching combination than a large clump of Scarlet Elegance rising in a sea of deep blue Scilla sibirica Spring Beauty.
Brilliant is planted with Chionodoxa sardensis. Fritz Kreisler is a soft apricot-rose with a 10-inch stem and a flower as large as a Darwin tulip. Racine, also large-flowered, is a warm rose color.
You may want to grow many other tulips, such as the enormous flaming Red- Emperor and the “candy stick” tulip. T. clusiana, but remember that their season runs into late April and May.
One early species of tulip, T. turkestanica, should be included in any early spring garden. It has a cluster of five to eight starry florets with cinnamon-brown exteriors and white interiors borne on a 6-inch stem.
Species Narcissus
The lover of the unique and the miniature will, of course, particularly enjoy the species narcissus.
Narcissus minor minimus, one of the most appealing, is a perfect miniature. Its golden yellow trumpet is proportionate to its 3-inch stem. It flowers in February or very early March.
N. canaliculatus bears clusters of deliciously fragrant florets, white with yellow centers.
N. bulbocodium, the hoop-petticoat daffodil, has a bell-shaped cup with a narrow perianth and petals streaming out behind.
N. b. conspicuus is its yellow form, N. b. citrinus, a pale primrose, and N. b. monophyllus, a cream Narcissus cyclamineus is a uniform bright yellow miniature whose small round cup is framed by pointed, sharply reflexed petals.
The petals of the snow-white N. triandrus albus, Angels’ Tears, are also pointed and reflexed, and its blooms hang in clusters from 6-inch stems. It, too, blooms in February or March.
These narcissus species are too dainty for mass plantings and too small for any but the most intimate corners of the garden.
They like full sun and a 4-inch covering of loose, gritty soil. Warm rock garden pockets are excellent for them.
A bed at the top of a terrace or wall where you can inspect them while standing below, with the blooms nearly at eye level, is ideal.
For added gardening pleasure, include some of these tiny narcissus gems, along with drifts and sweeps of “little” bulbs and substantial colonies of species tulips, in your new plantings.
You can steal a march in spring!
44659 by Charles R. Mueller