My father always said as far as he was concerned spring began on his birthday in early March. Technically spring doesn’t officially begin until Thursday, March 19, but for many of us winter weary Midwesterners, spring begins March 1st. The old saying goes March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. The first of March can still be very cold and snowy, but usually warms up by the end of the month.
In March as the days are growing longer, we begin to see life in our gardens. The very first flower to bloom in my garden are the small white snowdrops. (Galanthus) These tiny white flowers are by themselves unimpressive, but look great blooming planted in large swaths. Many years I have seen these tiny white flowers poking out of the snow giving hope of better things to come.
About the same time the Witch Hazel Shrub shows its distinctive and aromatic yellow ribbon like flowers. (Hamamelis x intermedia Arnold’s Promise) Witch Hazel hybrids are available with red and orange flowers, but lack the unique fragrance of the yellow flowering types. I can remember as a kid walking up to the neighborhood barber and after getting a haircut, he would splash the herbal scented Witch Hazel lotion on our pink cheeks.
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The large leafed Hellebores or Christmas or Lenten Rose is a favorite. The single or double flowers are often one of the very first flowers to bloom . They are offered in a variety of colors and are long-lived perennials. There have been many a years when they bloomed nearly covered with snow.
Forsythia shrubs covered with masses of lemon yellow blossoms is always a welcoming sight in early spring. Folklore says it will snow three more times after the Forsythia shrub blooms. Like many early spring shrubs the plant lacks ornamental value after the flowers fade. I have a couple Forsythia with variegated foliage that adds garden interest all season long.
Snow Crocus are one of the earliest flowers to bloom. They are smaller than the much larger Dutch crocus, but look wonderful planted in large drifts. Squirrels seem to enjoy eating crocus and will dig them up and bury the corms elsewhere. It is amusing to me to see where the flowers emerge in the spring!
Every garden should have a corner dedicated to early blooming wild spring flowers. These flowers are often small and ephemeral or short-lived, but are such a joy to see blooming after a long winter.
To name a few:
The marbled brown and green leafed yellow and white Dog Tooth Lily. It is also refereed to as the Trout Lily because the mottled foliage is said to resemble the skin of the fish. In a small wooded area behind a friend’s farm in the western part of the County, I had the astonishing view of the entire woodland floor covered with hundreds of these fascinating flowers. (Erythronium americanum)
Purple Cress (Cardamine douglassii). These tiny white, pink or light purple flowers are only about an inch long and only a few inches high, but grow in mass brightening the forest floor.
Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) is a pink to white flower with grass like foliage that grow in large patches.
On the outside corner of my greenhouse I have a large grouping of the buttery yellow Butter Cups, that increase with size every year. (Ranunculus hispidus)
The very popular, white multi-petal Blood Root ( Sanguinaria canadensis) so named for its deep red roots.
A favorite of mine is the wild Blue Violet and blue and white flowering Confederate Violet.(Viola sororia). Many see these early bloomers as weedy nuisances in the lawn, but I see them as welcomed color after a long bleak and drab winter.
There are many other March early bloomers. They are a treasure and glorious to see as the Earth wakes up ushering in a new season of gardening joy!
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