My Three Favorite Easy-to-Grow Spring Flowers

and some helpful resources

G.K. Chesterton suggested that we are drawn to “astonishing tales because they touch the nerve of the ancient instinct of astonishment.” In an age where we have scientific explanations for almost everything, he reminds us that it really is astonishing that an egg can turn into a chicken, that a tree forms a blossom that becomes a fruit, that snow is white when it could have been black. When I plant bulbs or corms in the fall, and they turn into beautiful flowers in the spring, I am struck by the ancient instinct of astonishment. It feels like magic.

Living in the South, spring has been my most successful flower gardening season. Temperatures are warm but not oppressively hot like our summers, and it is still cool enough at night to keep the bugs at bay. Starting flowers from corms or bulbs is easy and requires almost no maintenance.

If you live in a cooler climate, you can still plant these flowers, but you would plant the first two in the spring instead of the fall.

1. Ranunculus

Ranunculus are my favorite spring flower. They begin as small brown corms that resemble fragile octopuses. Each corm becomes a plant that produces 30 blooms. They are cut-and-come-again flowers, meaning that cutting the stem of the flower will encourage the plant to produce more blooms. They are cold hardy to 25°F/-4°C. Occasionally, it gets colder than that here, and when that happens, I cover them. They made it through several days with lows around 15°.

Ranunculus have a long vase life, up to two weeks! They also continue to grow in the vase, which is mesmerizing to observe. This season I experimented with adding flower food to the water. It was wildly successful! I have never had such big blooms.

I planted most of the same varieties as last season: a picotee mix, chocolate, café, and amandine salmon. But this season I also planted the porcelaine variety which is a mix of creams and soft pinks. I couldn’t get over how beautiful they are! I had so many flowers that my home was filled with huge bouquets, and I made bouquets for neighbors and friends, too.

I learned how to grow ranunculus using this tutorial by Floret, but since I live in the South, I didn’t use her method of pre-sprouting.

2. Anemones

When I first heard about anemones, I thought, “Wait, isn’t that a sea creature?” It is, in fact, both the name of a sea creature and a flower. Often found in bridal bouquets, this flower is delicate and elegant. Like ranunculus, it’s cold hardy to 25°F/-4°C, and it’s a cut-and-come-again flower that continues to grow in the vase. After adding a teaspoon of plant food to the vase water, some of the blooms were as big as my palm.

My favorite varieties from this season are the classic De Caen White, Rainbow Pastel (they remind me of a watercolor painting), and Rainbow Red White, which are white with a red center.

I used this tutorial by Floret to learn about anemones, and again I did not pre-sprout. I tried it one year, and my corms molded.

3. Daffodils

Daffodils are maybe the quintessential spring flower. I haven’t had much success with growing tulips here, even using pre-chilled bulbs. It’s just too warm. So, I’m grateful I can grow daffodils. We all know the classic yellow bloom, but it is truly amazing to see how many varieties there are now! You can buy mixed assortments of daffodils and try several varieties for an affordable price. Unlike ranunculus and anemones, they are not cut-and-come-again flowers. So once you cut the blooms, they will be done for the season.

This year I loved the Citrus Sorbet mix, Double Tahiti, Precocious and the Pretty in Pink mix.

As I begin planning for next year, I’d love to hear about your favorite flower varieties, too!