Plants seldom bloom according to a specific date :-) Too many variable like weather, siting, time in the ground, etc. will affect the actual timing. But early blooming perennials that fit your description are epimediums, Mukdenia rossii. Petasites japonicus, Disporum sessile, Primula sieboldii or japonica, Polygonatum odoratum, Iris japonica, Chloranthus japonicus, Smilacina japonica.

Also 'full sun' perennials originating from Japan are rare - most of the above are woodland plants and would prefer at least partial shade. And check individually for hardiness. Can't do all your work for you :-))

Thanks gardengal. As always you impress me with your plant knowledge! I was pretty confident in knowing most plants by name now but half the perennials you just listed I never even heard of... Anyway though, just plants that are generally known to bloom in april is fine. I checked all those plants and I like the chloranthus. And primula seems to bloom in late spring doesn't it? I was also researching on my own and found aquilegia flabellata aka japanese columbine. Missouribotanicgarden states it blooms from april to may but all other sites say late spring... do you know anything of this plant?

Btw I have a petasites in my yard now and they are blooming now. They have been blooming since 2 weeks ago so I don't know if it'll keep blooming until April...

According to my Phillips and Rix perennials encyclopedia, A. flabellata flowers June-August in its native environment.

I wouldn't consider any bloom times this year as necessarily being typical - it's been a very odd and mild winter in many areas.

Oh alright, thats a bummer. So even in your area huh. NJ has also been having freakishly weird weathers this year.

Btw, I think I may have found a good match that will reliably bloom in April. Perhaps I should try the bletilla striata or hardy orchid. Only worry is deer and rabbits though.. since no sites say anything about them being resistant to animals

Wait.. now I see some people saying it blooms in May.. sigh

it's been a very odd and mild winter in many areas.

I really believe this is the new norm :(.

one way to determine such.. is to visit local gardens and see what came up naturally.. rather than being forced to early bloom in a greenhouse ....

same with stalking the local area with your camera and getting IDS ... which you have been doing ....

this is a truly regional issue .. so opinions from divergent areas can get tricky ....

i wish i could convert my z5MI to your zone ... your april is probably my may ... and that would mean.. flowering shrubs ... rather than perennials ...

ken

Are many of the peonies Japanese in origin rather than just breeding? Check out Paeonia japonica or P. obovata for timing of bloom in your area. I think both occur naturally in Japan and both bloom in May here and so would be reasonable to bloom in April in NJ. I have no idea of critter resistance since woodchucks are removed at the first sign of damage to brassicas and the deer and rabbits prefer to not eat in the garden.

Are you planning for this year (2017) or some time in the future?

As I stated initially, nailing down a specific bloom time can be very tricky. Yes regionality will come into play but so will many other factors. And April is very early for many perennials to be blooming, regardless of location, so your list is always going to be relatively short, even without the many restrictions you have applied.

Personally, I am not convinced that just a higher zone automatically means a given plant will bloom earlier than the same one located in a colder zone. Even in my very mild climate, you will not find peonies in bloom before May. The only perennials I can really count on at that time of year are wallflowers (erysimum spp), many of the rock plants (iberis, arabis, lithodora, creeping phlox, etc.), hellebores (which start blooming in December in my area and continue to May), lungwort and bleeding hearts and many spurges and bulbs. And the vast majority of these are not Japanese in origin.

Well I will be buying the plants and planting them this spring in my yard just to see how it does. But this will ultimately be for my future home which will be in 7-8 years. Too young to buy a home now lol.

Paeonia japonica is supposed to bloom may but I already see some shoots growing from the ground in my yard and it is also starting to leaf out. I don't think it'll bloom this year since I only planted them last fall. Anyway though, I have my Japanese peony listed in my may flowering perennial.

So I guess I should get an April blooming shrub instead then. Since there are many of them that bloom early as opposed to perennials

Here are the specific requirements:

1) Must be native to Japan

Do you mind if I ask the background behind this requirement?

Heruga has Japanese ancestry :-)

What floral said. What I can say with the utmost of confidence, is that we will never, ever see the day when we come anywhere near having such knowledge. It is actually rather humbling.

Since there are in excess of 400,000 known plant species (and more being discovered every day), knowing just a few 100 by sight is about the best most of us can expect to achieve :-) That's one of the reasons gardening is such a satisfying pastime - you never stop learning! After some 40 odd years of gardening I've good a pretty good knowledge base but I still encounter things I was not aware of on almost a daily basis.

knowing just a few 100 by sight is about the best most of us can expect to achieve :-)

Is it just me that finds over the winter months forgetting even names of plants that I just planted the previous season! Sometimes "youth is wasted in the young".

Would Lamprocapnos spectabilis fit the bill? It flowers in April in my garden.

I would have suggested that as well but he said he didn't want any early-to-go-dormant plants, like bleeding hearts, so I didn't. One of the more reliable April bloomers, IMO.

OK. I failed to re read the OP. I don't really see the objection, though. You can just grow something else over the top.

Well I know there are tons more plants in this world but I was just referring to the most commonly used ones that I thought I was confident on knowing. But apparently not! I need more learning. And then theres all your tropical plants as well...

Last year I bought and planted a bleeding heart that was blooming in May. So I think its more of a May flowering in my zone. Seriously though, I have been researching like a maniac on perennials that reliably bloom in April but still nothing :( Everything that blooms in spring is in late spring and the ones that gardengal posted are good but they are mostly uncommon plants and can't find it so easily in nurseries.

Wait until April, then ask what people have blooming in their gardens.

The New England forum has several years of regular threads about what people have blooming. That may be a place to research.