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Best Plants for Transitional Spring Weather

  • Gardener's Guide
  • What's In Season
Salvia

As the days grow longer and the chill of winter fades, it’s time to welcome the season of renewal with a spring planter refresh! After months of dormancy, your planters and window boxes deserve a vibrant makeover with fresh, colorful blooms and lush greenery. In this blog, we’ll explore the best plants to revitalize your planters for the winter-to-spring climate.

Erysimum Brightside Magenta Glow

Erysimum 

Erysimum is a vibrant and hardy perennial wallflower that is perfect for early spring planters. This variety features stunning magenta-pink flowers with hints of purple, adding an intense pop of color to garden displays. It starts blooming early in the season, often from late winter to early spring, and continues well into summer. 

Erysimum thrives in cool temperatures and can withstand light frosts, making it an excellent choice for early-season plantings. It’s drought-tolerant once established and requires minimal care, perfect for busy gardeners. This Erysimum variety is a fantastic way to add bold color and life to early spring planters, ensuring your garden or patio bursts into bloom before the summer heat arrives.

 

Salvia

 

Salvia

Salvia is a standout in spring gardens, prized for its remarkable hardiness and impressive size. This resilient perennial boasts striking spires of vibrant blooms, bringing both color and texture to your landscape. Its upright growth habit adds a sense of verticality, making it an excellent choice for layered planting designs. 

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, salvia is also a magnet for pollinators, inviting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to your garden. Whether tucked into mixed borders or showcased in container arrangements, salvia’s bold presence and easy-care nature make it a favorite for gardeners seeking beauty and biodiversity.

 

Pansies

Pansies

Pansies are one of the most resilient and charming flowers for early spring planters, often overlooked in favor of flashier blooms. These cool-weather-loving plants thrive in the crisp temperatures of early spring, bringing vibrant color to gardens long before summer flowers begin to bloom—we work hard to cultivate a dizzying variety of gorgeous and unique pansies. 

What makes pansies exceptional for early spring is their remarkable cold tolerance. They can withstand light frosts, making them a reliable choice for adding color when many other plants are still dormant. Whether planted alone for a bold color statement or mixed with other cool-season flowers, pansies are the unsung heroes of spring arrangements—bringing cheer, elegance, and resilience to any garden space.

 

Blue Ice Cypress

Blue Cypress

Blue Cypress is a striking addition to spring garden designs, known for its distinctive pyramidal shape, smooth flaking reddish bark, and aromatic blue-gray foliage. Its ethereal blue-green color offers a stunning contrast against the varying shades of green found in surrounding plants, creating a captivating visual effect. The coarse, jagged texture of its foliage adds depth and dimension, making it a standout feature in any arrangement. 

We especially love Blue Cypress in spring plantings, where its unique hue and texture provide a perfect backdrop for vibrant, saturated blooms to truly shine. This combination brings a dynamic yet harmonious balance to garden displays.

 

Lambs ear

Lamb’s Ear

Lamb’s Ear is a beloved favorite among spring gardeners, and for good reason. Its soft, velvety texture and distinctively shaped leaves—resembling a lamb’s ear—make it a charming and practical addition to any garden. The silvery-green foliage not only adds a gentle, calming touch to arrangements but also provides excellent structure. Lamb’s Ear is especially effective at filling in the lower sections of planters and garden beds, offering lush coverage where gaps can be tricky to manage. 

This perennial is as easy to care for as it is beautiful, thriving with minimal attention while maintaining its timeless appeal. Whether used to complement bold blooms or as a soft visual anchor in mixed plantings, Lamb’s Ear is a go-to choice for adding texture, elegance, and effortless charm to your spring garden.

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Currently Serving the Greater Philadelphia Area