Our Favourite Spring Flowering Shrubs and Trees

Posted:6 March 2016

Of the many early spring flowering shrubs and trees, we have some particular favourites at the Garden House. In flower at the moment in our garden is the very beautiful Viburnum x bodnantense Dawn.

This superb RHS AGM variety has a particularly long season of interest, making it an excellent choice for prominent borders and wildlife gardens. It is characterised by its delicious scent and numerous and densely packed 7.5cm (3in) clusters of rose, pink or blush white blooms which appear on bare, woody stems. In cold gardens it flowers from January to March, but in mild winters they bloom from October to March with a short break. As a bonus, in autumn the green foliage transforms to vibrant orange and yellow.

We are also looking forward to seeing the emerging blossoms of Cercis chinensis Avondale’, a form of the Chinese redbud, whose brilliantly pink-purple flowers appear directly up-and-down the bare stems.

Chaenomeles x superba, the flowering quince has semi-double flowers that appear through March and April. Richly red or softest white, and most tones in between, they look both elegant and exotic, which is probably thanks to their Oriental origins. These will grow just about anywhere, although the sunnier the spot the better the results.

Chaenomeles x superba

Many Magnolias are coming into bud now. These beautiful shrubs come in all shapes and sizes, from M. stellata with its delicate white star-shaped flowers, ideal for the small garden, to the very large Magnolia grandiflora, often grown against a wall or in a sheltered sunny corner. Whichever you choose, their elegant waxy flowers will fill you with joy every March.

Magnolias at Nymans Gardens coming into flower

Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ is one of the best of all fragrant flowering shrubs, its rather upright habit working well in the smaller garden. It has red buds opening to large white flowers creating an impressive display against the usually evergreen foliage.

And finally, throughout Brighton & Hove we’ll soon be seeing cherry blossom lighting up many of our streets. The genus Prunus are popular ornamental plants for gardens and parks, with some of the best flower displays of any tree in spring and good autumn colour.

Cherry blossom looking beautiful against the blue sky