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What are your EARLIEST spring bloomers for vase?

16 years ago

I grow lots of flowers that make great late spring thru fall bouquets, which I sell locally. I have dicentras, daffodils & some tulips, lily of the valley, columbine, peonies, trollius etc...typical spring varieties.

I was just asked if I could do simple bouquets for an informal wedding reception that is scheduled for the end of April. I doubt I can come up with anything for sure before May, except for maybe my earliest daffodils. This same thing came up last spring, and the earliest I could do a retirement party was the end of May.

I wonder if anyone here knows of EARLIER blooming perennials/bulbs that I should think about FOR THE FUTURE that would be good for the vase (in zone 5a), just in case people ask for bouquets in EARLY SPRING.

Thanks SO much for any help you might give me!

:0) Phyl

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Comments (10)

aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
16 years ago
Hellebores

A......
WendyB 5A/MA
16 years ago
flowering shrubs and trees? I know...wrong forum... but I think there are more candidates for that time period.

Can't think of many perennials that early... Bergenia?

There's an early yellow plant I see around that I have considered getting, I'm not sure what it is. maybe euphorbia
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tedb_threecedarfarm
16 years ago
My first bouquet is always Abeliophylum, white forsythia. It is a shrub, but not to big. Fragrant, white and super easy to force.

Ted
aachenelf z5 Mpls
16 years ago
Here's one I don't think most people thing of: Scilla siberica. These wouldn't work for large arrangements, but for small, individual bouquets at each place setting on a dinner table they can't be beat. In past years when Easter wasn't so early like it was this year, I could count on having lots of these to use. Each small bulb produces multiple stems, the flowers are a beautiful shade of blue and have a wonderful fragrance. The bulbs also multiply fast.

Kevin
phylrae
Original Author
16 years ago
Wow, thanks everyone! I'm looking all these up right now. :0) Phyl
laceyvail 6A, WV
16 years ago
The old fashioned pulmonaria that people called lungwort and that spreads rather than clumps like the newer cultivars has beautiful, deep blue flowers of surprising size.

Also, though hellebores are gorgeous, the blooms hang down. I find they look best floating in shallow bowls. There are new cultivars with more upright flowers, but they are still very expensive. Helleborus foetidus, with its chartreuse flowers, however, would look very interesting in arrangements.
kwoods
16 years ago
You can force all kinds of shrubs and trees. I always do witchhazel and magnolias (some magnolias drop their blossoms pretty quick so watch that). Lots of people force forsytheia you could do cherry trees or flowering plum, crab apples etc.

I have a vase of serviceberry and spicebush on my kitchen table right now.

For a wedding I'd probably go with tons of cherry blossoms.
ankraras
16 years ago
Gerbera. I am anxious to add more of the long stem variety.

{{gwi:68416}}
cheleinri
16 years ago
I have early flowering tulips that start in about a week. Maybe a bulb enthusiast in your zone can tell you when they bloom. Planted near a foundation will make them come up as early as possible.
SandL
16 years ago
Around here it is daffodils - and lots of them. I have not planted any in my gardens yet, but have contemplated it heavily this year.
Earliest bloomers in my garden for vase are hyacinths and crocus (for bud vases). My garden comes alive in the summer to Autumn months.

Heather

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