My Top 5 Favorite Spring Flowers
If you’ve been following my farm for any time at all, you probably know that I love ALL the flowers. It’s true, I do. This past week while I was trying to hide from all the snow, I started scrolling through my picture gallery. I just needed to see some bright colors that would remind me, spring will come again- and sooner than it feels right now. Glancing at my garden calendar, I could see that I would be harvesting the first of our fancy daffodils in just eight weeks. That sent me on a search that led me through my pictures from March through May over the years. Maybe you could use a little reminder that winter doesn’t last forever and brighter days are ahead. Here are my top five favorite spring flowers in all their glory.
The earliest spring blooms to appear after the dull, cold winter are the narcissus, or “fancy daffodils”. Certainly you’ve seen the bright yellow trumpets nodding in the breeze. But the ones that make my heart leap are those other ones- the fluffy ruffled blooms that show up in creamy white with apricot centers. Double layers of the brightest yellow petals, multiple blooms on a single stem of bright white with a speck of orange in the center. Most of them have a delicate scent while others are almost intoxicating with their fragrance. Daffodils are my #1 favorite spring bloom.
Hyacinths run pretty close to the daffodils on our farm. Sometimes they are a couple of days ahead but most years they run a few days behind the first of the daffodil blooms. At first they seem to barely be pushing out of the ground. I watch their funny little spears peak out and worry that they will be too short for our designers to use. Sometimes I get anxious and start cutting them once I see color. But if I can be patient, they shoot up and offer stems that are often 14” from the cut to the tip of the bloom. I plant them tightly in their beds and always manage to squeeze in a few hundred more each fall. Some growers pull their hyacinths with the bulbs on, but because we are able to get such nice stem length, we cut them and leave the bulb. I top dress with steer manure once I’ve harvested as much as I can and wait for the next spring when they will come back with a vengeance. I would be remiss to leave out the best part of hyacinths- their fragrance is truly unparalleled. While the more common colors are blue to deep violet, I also grow the peachy toned ones as well the pinks. If you are looking for something truly gorgeous for wedding work, consider the white hyacinth. The individual florets can be used in personal work- think boutonnieres, corsages and floral crowns. Hyacinths are my #2 favorite spring bloom.
Freshly harvested hyacinths ready for the local market.
My next favorite spring bloom is only #3 because it blooms a few days ahead of my #4 favorite. Lilacs! Is there truly anything better than an armload of lilacs ?! (Well, maybe my #4 favorite.) Lilacs have a way of taking you back to your childhood. Their scent is so nostalgic that you can see a picture and immediately remember their scent. When I was growing up I remember my mom “trimming back” a pair of lilacs that were outgrowing their space on either side of our garage door. We didn’t get blooms that year. You have to deadhead your lilacs as soon as they finish blooming because the next year’s flower buds will form shortly after blooming in the spring. If you wait too long, you risk cutting off branches that would have had flowers the following spring. Because we grow all of our lilacs for the flower markets, we are cutting them back as we go along. Another helpful hint is to cut your lilacs when at least half of the florets are open. Truly, they aren’t going to develop much more after you have cut them. If you cut too early, you risk not having a full beautiful bunch. If you’ve had trouble with them wilting in your vase, this might be part of the reason. Lilacs have been described as “expensive real estate for such a quick crop”. But if you have the space, do yourself a favor and plant a few lilac shrubs. Your future self will thank you.
Fresh cut lilacs
So what is number 4? Peonies of course. Some years we have them blooming by the 5th of May. Other years they slide in just in time for Mother’s Day bouquets. But we almost always, without fail, have peonies for our biggest holiday of the year. Our first blooms are a pale yellow called Lemon Chiffon and a deep crimson red called Red Charm. When we were planning our peony fields, I wanted to have peonies in a variety of colors that would span from early, to mid and finally late in the season. That means we now have peonies from early May all the way through mid to late June. My favorites are the big, sumptuous pink blooms. I want layers and layers of petals in my peonies. For market growers like myself, we want to pick our peonies when they are in the “marshmallow” stage. That’s when they are still closed, but kind of “squishy”. At the peak of the season we’re out there harvesting sometimes 3 times a day so the flowers don’t blow open and will retain the longest vase life for our customers. Peonies are perfect in just a hand gathered bunch, or mixed in with other flowers.
Some of my favorite pink peony varieties opening up in the heat.
And this brings me to my fifth favorite spring flower- Dianthus! This workhorse is often overlooked because it isn’t as fancy as a peony or lilac. It’s not the earliest bloomer like a daffodil or hyacinth. But it is such an amazing flower that fills out any bouquet. The colors are perfect from early spring all the way through the summer and even in to the fall. Keep cutting them and they keep producing. We grow mainly the “Sweet” and the “Amazon” varieties because they do well in our climate. We plant out our plugs in the early fall and by spring they are kicking out a tremendous amount of blooms. The more we cut the more they produce. Pastels, bi-colors, and even a deep red velvet color give that special pop to all of our seasonal bouquets.
