Spring Flowers and Ornamental Trees for Curb Appeal

Planting flowers and ornamental trees in your landscape can beautify your home and add curb appeal to it's value. Springtime is especially good for plants that pop with bold colors and wonderful fragrance.

This is a picture of our front porch in spring. People actually change their walking routines in spring to pass our house. The riotous splash of colors and sweet honey fragrance is a welcome, sensory delight after our area's long winters. I will share with you my tips and list of favorite plants for bright spring colors in your landscape.

You can't go wrong by planting ground covers for spring color impact. Over time they will spread into dense color blocks with the added benefit of holding moisture in the ground, soil in place, and crowding out weeds. Try some of these maintenance free plants. These plants will do well in most areas of the country.

PERENNIALS

Creeping Phlox (the white and lavender flowers)

Perennial Aiyssum (Basket of Gold, yellow)

Wild Violets (deep purple/blue)

A note on the wild violets. I never planted them. They arrived by seed in the chipped wood mulch we laid down in our garden beds when we first built them. Little clumps of them popped up here and there in the beds, and I decided to let them live and see what happens. In spite of nearly yanking them a few times (they were taking a long time to "spread"), I left them be. I'm glad I did. They hold a large block of my spring color with their lovely deep blue/purple.

ANNUALS

Forget-Me-Not (light blue to pink)

Bubls, planted in large clusters, can bring a huge splash of color to your front garden. Choose bright colors, like purple, hot pink, yellow and red. Buy large, quality bulbs, at least 25 or more per section you intend to plant. Here is a list of bulbs I have in my garden.

Crocus

Tulips

Daffodils

Paper Whites (Narcissus)

Grape Hyacinth

When the first flush of flowers begins to fade, continue your spring show with flowering plants and shrubs. They will take over blooming from the early bloomers and some even last into summer.

Spring flowering plants and shrubs in my garden are as follows:

Oriental Poppy

Peony

Deutzia

Bleeding Heart

Hardy Geranium, with scented leaves of lemon and orange.

The foundation of any yard is a beautiful tree. Many varieties flower in spring, putting forth a profusion of fragrant blooms in cheery colors. Choosing the right tree is not difficult, as long as you keep in mind a few important things. Consider not what the tree looks like now, but how tall and wide it will grow. Choose a tree that will give a pleasing accent to your home in height, shape and width, as well as the color of the blooms.

I chose flowering trees that won't overgrow the house, a "Profusion" crabapple, which has pink blooms, and a Dogwood that flowers white. Both will only get about 15' tall, at full height. They provide a nice frame for the house, with the changing carpet of flowers beneath their branches. I am particularly fond of the crabapple tree. It is not only beautiful in spring, but provides food for the birds in winter.

Other tree varieties that flower in spring are...

Redbud

Ornamental Pear

Cherry

Magnolia

Crabapples

...just to name a few.

Tell us about your favorite spring flowering plants. What do you love about them. Their color? Their fragrance? The memories they inspire?