After a long cold winter, there’s no doubt that a brilliant flower display can brighten the mood of anyone approaching your business or home in spring. The best time to start planning your spring flower displays is actually when the ground is still frozen and snow-covered. Whether planted in beds or containers, vibrant displays of flowers inspired by the colors of the season go a long way toward enhancing the entryways and grounds of your commercial property or living space.

Spring arrives at different times depending on where you live, but the sequence of blooms is similar in most places. Here in the Milwaukee area, planning for spring color displays starts long before the weather warms up.

“Our seasonal color team spends the cold days of winter going over each bed and planter for both early spring and summer flower plantings which are listed below.  We review colors and planting designs on all of our sites to make sure we are continuing to use flowers that work for each application.“

Tracy Owen, Villani Landshapers Season Color Manager

Color Options for Late Winter or Early Spring

The first day of spring this year falls on March 20th, but the flowers won’t know what day it is. They can, however, sense the lengthening days and rising temperatures, and this prompts them to resume growing and to get ready to bloom.

Experienced gardeners often create vignettes in one area to make the most of the earliest color such as planting a pool of winter aconite at the feet of a witch hazel shrub.

Many of the earliest bloomers are perennial plants, meaning that they must be planned out and planted in fall. But the options are endless. Among them:

• Winter Aconite: Also known as Eranthis, these pale yellow blooms are a joyous sight when they push through the snow.
• Witch Hazel: These shrubs add a wonderful touch of yellow in the early spring garden. Some cultivars bloom red.
• Crocus: The earliest varieties, such as Crocus chrysanthus, Crocus sieberi and Crocus tommasinianus, bloom through the snow. These are the small crocus that usually flower in shades of purple or yellow.
• Camellia: This beautiful shrub has lovely blossoms in mild winter climates or early spring in slightly harsher areas.

A Word About Pansies

The most common early spring annual that adds colorful interest to beds and containers is the hardy pansy. Typically planted in April, pansies bloom early and are hardy to late-season frost and snow. They will continue to bloom until the weather turns consistently hot.

The most common early spring annual that adds colorful interest to beds and containers is the hardy pansy.

Perennials for Early Spring Bloom

Early spring brings rain, mud, and more perennially-blooming flowers and shrubs. Look for these favorites:

• Daffodil: The earliest narcissi appear in early spring, especially small cultivars like Tete-a-Tete.
• Iris Reticulata: The large Iris are a summer pleasure, but this small beauty is an early spring treasure.
• Tulip: On everyone’s list of spring flowers, tulips start their period of bloom in mid-spring.
• Redbud trees: Their branches are outlined with wonderful pink blooms before their leaves appear.

Flowers For Brilliant Summer Color

By the end of May, southern Wisconsin is usually past the danger of any killing frost, and winter planning pays off when colorful annuals are planted to complement later-blooming perennials such as lilac, peonies, allium and spirea.

Begonias, petunias, zinnias, salvia, coleus, marigolds and impatiens of all varieties are just a few of the summer annuals that Villani Landshapers technicians use to create visually pleasing flower beds and container plantings in the summer.

With the array of annual varieties available each summer, it is possible to install different designs on an annual basis.

“[In the winter] we also go through the process of redesigning some sites to add variety for our clients. We submit both our early spring and our summer flower order to our vendors by the end of January to guarantee we receive the correct amount of flowers for all job sites.”

Tracy Owen, Villani Landshapers Season Color Manager

Spring and summer flowers add beauty to your home or business. Taking the time to plan your flower installation to take advantage of natural bloom times, as well as a variety of plant heights, colors, light and water tolerances, will create an interesting and beautiful display to welcome your visitors all summer long.