Spring flowers: what blooms when and when to plant or sow them

In short: Most spring flowers are not planted in spring but in autumn. Bulbs and spring perennials go into the ground from September to October, tulips until early November. Biennials such as pansies and forget-me-nots are sown in summer. In spring you can only add pot-grown plants.

Everyone imagines something a little different by spring flowers: snowdrops under the window, yellow daffodils, tulips in a bed, purple pansies in a window box or a white carpet of wood anemones under the trees. They have one thing in common: they bloom before the garden properly wakes up, and so they have to be prepared several months in advance.

This overview is a guide. It shows what blooms when and what to plant when, and for each group it points to detailed articles. The end of September, when this text is published, is the most important date of the whole year for spring flowers.

Flowering calendar from February to May

Flowering times are approximate. In warm lowlands everything comes two to three weeks earlier than in the foothills.

A simple rule follows from the table: anyone who wants a garden in flower in spring has to act now, in autumn. In spring you can only buy more plants in pots.

Bulbs: plant now, flower in half a year

Bulbs are the backbone of the spring garden. They are planted in autumn, root over the winter, "count off" the winter in the cold and flower in spring. Anyone who leaves the bulbs in the garage until spring will usually not see any flowers.

The general rules are the same for all: plant bulbs with the tip upwards at a depth of two to three times their height, in well-drained soil and preferably in groups rather than rows. According to the RHS, most spring bulbs are planted from late summer to autumn, tulips a little later, once the soil has cooled. For detailed planting instructions, depths and dates for individual species, see the articles:

• autumn planting of bulbs – how and when to plant, how to protect bulbs from rodents,
• spring bulbs – 10 growing tips – tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and care after flowering,
• bulbs and tuberous plants – an overview of spring and summer species and how to store them.

How to get continuous flowering from bulbs

The most common mistake is to buy only tulips. The bed then flowers for three weeks and the rest of spring it is empty. If you combine early, mid-season and late species, one spot flowers from March to May.

1. Divide the bed into three "layers" according to planting depth.
2. Put tulips or daffodils at the greatest depth, roughly 15–20 cm.
3. Cover them and, at a depth of around 10 cm, put hyacinths or smaller daffodils.
4. At the top, about 5–8 cm below the surface, scatter crocuses, squills or grape hyacinths.
5. Cover, water and mark the spot so you do not dig it up in winter.
6. On the surface you can plant pansies. They flower above the bulbs and the bulbs grow up through them.

Spring perennials: plant once, flower for years

Unlike tulips, spring perennials never need to be lifted. Most of them grow in the wild in deciduous woods, where they make use of the spring light before the trees come into leaf. In the garden they therefore thrive under shrubs and trees, where summer flowers would suffer from the shade.

• Wood anemone – white carpets under trees, the rhizomes are planted in autumn. The whole anemone genus is described in the article Anemone, or windflower.
• Lungwort – pinkish-blue flowers, spotted leaves, partial shade.
• Primroses – from the yellow native primrose to colourful garden hybrids.
• Hellebores – flower already in winter and early spring, evergreen leaves.
• Rock cress and moss phlox – cushions for rock gardens and walls in full sun.

You will find more plants for partial shade and shade, where spring perennials do best, in the article which plants suit the shade.

Sowing seeds: biennials are sown in summer

If you want spring flowers from seed, you have to sow in summer, not in spring. Pansies, forget-me-nots and daisies are biennials: in the first year they form a rosette of leaves, overwinter and flower only in spring of the second year. A spring sowing would not flower until summer, and then more weakly.

1. In June to July sow the seeds in a tray or on a seedbed in fine, moist soil.
2. Cover pansies with a thin layer of compost, as they germinate better in the dark.
3. Keep the sowing in shade and constantly slightly moist; in heat they germinate poorly.
4. When the seedlings have two to three true leaves, prick them out to a wider spacing.
5. In September plant them out in their final place, in a bed or window box, or between the bulbs.
6. For the winter, cover them lightly with evergreen branches in frosty locations.

If you missed the summer sowing, pot-grown seedlings remain in autumn and spring. A sowing in February on a windowsill will then give pansies that flower in summer of the same year. Details on biennials and how they differ from annuals are summarised in the article annuals and biennials.

Spring shrubs and trees

Woody plants also complete the spring garden. Forsythia flowers yellow in March and April before coming into leaf, followed by ornamental cherries, magnolias and almonds. Shrubs that flower in spring are pruned only after flowering, because they set their buds in the previous year. Anyone who cuts them back in winter will lose the flowers.

In the wild, only take photographs

Many spring flowers that we know from gardens also grow freely in the wild, and some are strictly protected. Under Decree No. 395/1992 Coll., the protected species include the spring snowflake, snowdrop, two-leaved squill, dog's-tooth violet, pasqueflowers and snowdrop anemone (Anemone sylvestris), among others. Do not pick or dig them up; you can get garden cultivars at a garden centre.

Beware of toxicity too. According to the ASPCA, daffodils, tulips and hyacinths are poisonous to dogs, cats and horses, with most of the toxic substances in the bulbs. Do not store a bag of bulbs where a dog or small child can reach it, and if you suspect a child has been poisoned, call the Toxicology Information Centre on 224 919 293 or 224 915 402.

Frequently asked questions

When should I plant spring flowers?

Bulbs and spring perennials in autumn, from September to October, tulips until early November. Biennials such as pansies and forget-me-nots are sown in June and July and planted out in September.

What are the first spring flowers?

Among the very first are snowdrops, winter aconites and spring snowflakes, which flower already in February and March. Soon after them come crocuses, squills and hellebores.

Can I plant bulbs in spring?

Dry bulbs, no; most need winter cold in order to flower. In spring you can plant sprouting bulbs in pots that have been pre-grown at a garden centre.

Which spring flowers suit the shade?

Wood anemone, lungwort, lily of the valley, snowdrops, spring snowflakes and hellebores. They grow best under deciduous trees, where they get light in spring and shade in summer.

When should I sow pansies so that they flower in spring?

In June to July. The seedlings are planted out in September, overwinter and flower from March. A February sowing does not flower until summer.

Recommended products

• Tulip Rembrandt, mixture 5 pcs – colourfully streaked tulips for planting in October.
• Double garden daffodil, mixture 5 pcs – for the bed and for the bottom "layer" of layered planting.
• Bulb basket, diameter 26 cm – makes it easier to lift the bulbs and protects them a little from voles.
• Pansy red-yellow F1 – seeds for summer sowing for spring flowering.
• Pansy orange with an eye – another colour for window boxes and bed edging.

Sources

• Planting bulbs (Royal Horticultural Society)
• Decree No. 395/1992 Coll., list of strictly protected plant species (Zákony pro lidi)
• Daffodil: toxicity to dogs, cats and horses (ASPCA Animal Poison Control)
• Tulip: toxicity to dogs, cats and horses (ASPCA Animal Poison Control)
• Toxicology Information Centre, General University Hospital in Prague

Updated: 27 September 2026