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Spring ahead – five glorious plants to pep up your garden

Enjoy our expert’s pick of some of the best plants you can buy, to add a little floral joy to your garden

There are brighter days ahead and many plants are responding by bursting into bloom. After a long winter, the cheer they bring is more than welcome. Daffodils and cherry blossom are getting into their full stride, but there are plenty of other tempting plants to choose from.
 

Lenten roses (Helleborus)

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Helleborus x hybridus
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Helleborus x hybridus
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Hellebore and Anemone blanda
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Helleborus x hybridus
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Helleborus x hybridus
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Hellebore and Anemone blanda
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Many garden centres offer a pick-and-mix selection of Helleborus × hybridus, with different colours, markings and forms being sold. Half the fun is turning up the flowers and seeing what’s inside. ‘Ashwood Garden Hybrid’ hellebores are worth searching for. Look out for single flowers with delightful dotted markings on the inside or choose from frilly doubles, as these are most prized. Otherwise go for blooms most beautiful to you and select the sturdiest looking plants. They will last for decades in the garden and will tolerate all but waterlogged soils.

Hyacinths

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Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Royal Navy’
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Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Chicago’
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Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Yellow Queen’
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Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Royal Navy’
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Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Chicago’
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Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Yellow Queen’
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It’s the scent of the moment. Heady and unforgettable, hyacinths are one of the most perfumed plants available. They are sold growing separately and in pots of three or five bulbs, usually in bud, and will open up and flower in about a week. Look out for blues, pinks, whites, yellows and apricot-coloured flowers. Potted plants can be enjoyed in the house (or outside) while in flower, and planted out in the garden for repeat blooms next year. 

Camellia ‘Anticipation’

Looking with hope to the future is often in our thoughts in spring, and this is a great choice to remind us of that; ​Camellia × williamsii ‘Anticipation’ is a very reliable camellia, producing impressive displays. In time it will make a large shrub, but can be pruned. It needs acidic soil, but can be grown in a pot, in ericaceous compost too. Sun or light shade.

Japanese willow

Branches bearing pussy willow catkins are a classic sign of spring. This version comes with a twist. Rather than silky grey pussy willows (male flowers), ​Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’ bears sumptuous pinky-red pom-poms. It thrives in most soils, but benefits from watering to keep the ground moist after it’s cut back hard each spring, which encourages a bushy plant full of flowers.

Heathers and heaths

Erica carnea ‘December red’ with Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ at RHS Garden Harlow Carr
Creating carpets of pink and white, ericas are a stalwart for the early spring garden. There are so many great ones to choose from, but if you look out for Erica carnea and Erica x darleyensis in name, you can be sure that they flower from January to March. I love the crisp purity of ‘Springwood White’, but also love the partnering of pink ‘Myretoun Ruby’ underneath the orange stems of Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’. It should be a clashing combination but, at a time of year where colour is still muted, it’s a very welcome blend. As a general rule, heaths bloom in winter and heathers in spring.

 

About the author - Leigh Hunt

As RHS Principal Horticultural Advisor, Leigh loves helping with strange and unusual enquiries that test more than 30 years of knowledge.

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Salix gracilistyla 'Mount Aso' (m)
willow 'Mount Aso'
  • 2.5–4 metres
  • 2.5–4 metres
<em>Salix</em> <em>gracilistyla</em> 'Mount Aso' (m)
Helleborus × hybridus 'Harvington Shades of the Night'
hellebore 'Harvington Shades of the Night'
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
<em>Helleborus</em> × <em>hybridus</em> 'Harvington Shades of the Night'
Helleborus 'Harvington Rebekah'PBR
hellebore 'Harvington Rebekah'
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
<em>Helleborus</em> 'Harvington Rebekah'<sup>PBR</sup>
Salix gracilistyla 'Mount Aso' (m)
willow 'Mount Aso'
  • 2.5–4 metres
  • 2.5–4 metres
<em>Salix</em> <em>gracilistyla</em> 'Mount Aso' (m)
Helleborus × hybridus 'Harvington Shades of the Night'
hellebore 'Harvington Shades of the Night'
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
<em>Helleborus</em> × <em>hybridus</em> 'Harvington Shades of the Night'
Helleborus 'Harvington Rebekah'PBR
hellebore 'Harvington Rebekah'
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
  • 0.1–0.5 metres
<em>Helleborus</em> 'Harvington Rebekah'<sup>PBR</sup>
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