Celebrate Spring with Three Flowering Favorites – Guest Post by Teresa O’Connor of Seasonal Wisdom

I’m so pleased to have gardening expert Teresa O’Connor, author of the Seasonal Wisdom blog, returning as a guest blogger to share some easy and colorful plants to brighten your spring .

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

If Mother Nature’s warmer temperatures are giving you a serious case of Spring Fever, why not bring that natural energy and beauty into your home and urban garden now? Here are three of my favorite spring plants:

Ranunculus: Cheerful ranunculus blooms in colors from purple and soft pink to bright red. The frost-hardy plants are perennials in warmer climates (Zones 8 through 11), but transplants can be found in local nurseries now and grown as annuals in spring.

Planted outdoors in full sun, Ranunculus grows well in window boxes, garden pots or other containers with well-drained potting soil. They’re lovely planted with forget-me-nots and Iceland poppies. A vase of these old-fashioned flowers also adds an elegant touch to any home, as you’ll see above.

 

Violas: Pansies and violets are sweet symbols of spring, and come in many delicious colors. The cool-season flowers will wake up your garden now, and couldn’t be easier to grow. Give these plants partial sun and moist, rich soil with good drainage. In cooler temperatures, they tolerate full sun.

 

Deadhead blossoms regularly to keep them blooming longer. A pot of violas also can be grown in a south or west-facing window indoors.

 

 

 

Primroses: These bright flowers are among the earliest-blooming in spring. Plant primroses in partial sun; sheltered from extreme weather. They’ll tolerate full sun in cool weather.

The charming plants prefer moist, rich soil with proper drainage. Mix primroses with other cool-season plants like violas, or massed together for impact.

(all photos supplied by Teresa O’Connor)

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Don’t Miss! Teresa’s previous guest post, Plants Add Life To Winter Gardens.

Author’s Note: Teresa O’Connor is a national author, speaker and consultant about gardening, food and folklore. Co-author of Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing & Preserving Fresh Foods, Teresa is a trained master gardener in California and Idaho. She’s also known as Seasonal Wisdom from Facebook, Twitter and her blog – SeasonalWisdom.com – which TV personality P. Allen Smith recently called one of the “Ten Great Garden Blogs.”

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