13 Best Annual Flowers for Spring

Petunias come in a big range of colors and patterns like stripes and splashes. These annuals also come in many bloom sizes and growth habits, with some petunias growing low on the ground, others mounding and some that will ramble all over a space in the garden. What all petunias have in common is they bloom in the spring and keep blooming all summer in the right conditions. They can take more heat than most spring annuals, so protect them from the hot afternoon sun and you’ll get blooms all summer.

Ranunculus, also known as Persian buttercups, bloom in early spring. Their tall, ruffly, rose-like blooms on long stems make them a favorite of florists but amateur flower fans adore them, too. Think of ranunculus as the rose of early spring. You can grow them from tubers (roots) planted in the ground in early spring or buy them already growing in pots. Plant them in full sun and make sure they have well-drained soil so they don’t get root rot.

Ranunculus looks good planted alongside other spring annuals like violas, snapdragons, daffodils and poppies. Like most spring annuals, ranunculus withers when summer’s heat arrives. Like spring, ranunculus’ beauty is fleeting. Once the foliage dies back, dig up the tubers and compost them.

Larkspur is a cottage garden classic, producing 3-foot and 4-foot tall wands of pink and blue blooms in the spring. This annual flower looks good planted in masses or in mixed borders with perennials like yarrow, lamb’s ear and sedum. When the annual goes away, the perennials remain so you have color for all seasons. Larkspur is such a prolific re-seeder it will seed itself in your garden year after year. Plant larkspur one spring and you’ll get new ones for many springs to come.

Snapdragon is a classic cool-season annual, so it belongs in your early spring garden. It fits right in with fellow spring mainstay, pansies. Snapdragon blooms come in cherry colors of red, orange, pink, white and yellow. Not only are they lovely in your yard and great cut flowers, they also make nectar that bees love to eat. You’ll have pretty flowers and feed the bees, too. Since bees are critical to putting food on our plates – 35% of our food production relies on pollinators --  feeding bees is good for you and them.  Snapdragons grow up to 3-feet tall and grow well in containers or beds.

They’ll stop blooming once summer heat kicks in. You can leave them till fall’s cool weather returns and they’ll bloom again or pull them out and replace them with summer blooming annuals.

These cheerful flowers are a must for early spring because pansies can stand up to cold weather, even snow. That means pansies paint your yard in color when little else is blooming. Pansies come in a rainbow of colors, ranging from deep crimson to blue-purple to bright yellow. They come in a range of sizes too, from tiny Johnny jump-ups to the 3-inch diameter blooms of Majestic Giants.

Pansies look lovely planted in masses in the ground or in containers and window boxes.  Pansies can’t take heat. They die back as soon as daily temperatures top 80 degrees. Pull them out and replace them with summer annuals like marigolds or calibrochoas.

Phlox is available as an annual or a perennial. We’re talking about annual phlox, which lives one season and fades away when summer’s heat arrives. Annual phlox produces red, pink, blue and white flowers on low, mounding plants. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds love phlox nectar, so you’ll get winged creatures in your spring garden along with flowers. Plant phlox in masses at the feet of spring favorites like tulips and daffodils.  Phlox also looks good planted in drifts at the edge of a border. They will keep blooming after the flowering bulbs have dropped their petals, so your bed will have color throughout spring.

Nasturtium is an heirloom plant that’s a fixture of cottage gardens. Its vivid orange, white and yellow blossoms grow on vines or bushes, depending on the variety. They do best in full sun, grown from seed that’s sown directly into the soil. But if you can’t wait for seeds to turn to flowers, buy bedding plants and transplant them into your garden or a container. Pair nasturtium with petunias, larkspur and pansies. Let it trail out of a container or wind up a trellis.

Dianthus, also known as pinks, is the ultimate cottage garden flower. They sport bright, starry flowers atop tufts of blue-green foliage and have a spicy aroma. Their casual form lends them to informal plantings. Dianthus comes in a range of varieties from groundcovers with tiny blooms to coffee-cup diameter flowers on 3-foot stems. Plant them alongside geranium, coral bells and iris.

There are few blue flowers in nature, but annual lobelia delivers. Its blooms are a gorgeous and intense blue-purple. Lobelia also comes in white, pink and lavender but it’s the blue that’s drop dead gorgeous. Look for these varieties of blue lobelia: ‘Blue Wings,’ ‘Lucia Dark Blue,’ ‘Magadi Blue,’ ‘Riviera Midnight Blue’ and ‘Regatta Sapphire.’ Plant it at the edge of a bed or in a window box and lobelia will spill over the edges like a living sapphire waterfall.

Stock has a spicy aroma that makes it a perfect pick for planting in window boxes or containers by your door where you can smell its scent whenever you walk by or crack a window open. Stock grows 1-foot to 2-foot spires of red, pink, blue and white flowers. It’s a good cutting flower so you get a perfumed bouquet for your house, from your garden.

This sweet-smelling annual blooms in early spring when little else has opened. Alyssum is a low-growing plant you can use for groundcover in the garden or as the filler in a container. Alyssum flowers are white, light pink, lavender or peachy-colored. Like most spring annuals, alyssum doesn’t like heat and will stop blooming in summer. We recommend yanking it out and replacing it with heat-tolerant, summer-blooming annuals so you’re never without flowers.

Crossandra is a houseplant in northern climates, but in the south it’s an outdoor bedding plant for spring. It has shiny, emerald green leaves and brightly colored orange blooms. It looks like a delicate tropical, but crossandra is a tough plant that can live beyond spring and bloom into early summer if you protect it from afternoon sun and give it plenty of water. Crossandra thrives in humidity so it’s a good pick for deep south gardens and yards. Pair it with pentas and French marigolds.

Nemesia comes in a rainbow of flower colors, almost every shade but green. Their blooms look like tiny orchids. Nemesia is usually used as a bedding plant or as ground cover. Nemesia also looks great in containers and baskets because it will spill down the sides. Traditionally nemesia has been difficult to grow in warm areas because the annual likes cold temperatures, but a new collection of hybrids can stand up to hotter climates. They’ll bloom throughout the cool days of spring and into the early days of summer if you protect them from direct afternoon sun. Pair them with dianthus, lobelias, snapdragon and pansies.