Early Spring Colour

Anemone coronaria (De Caen Group) ‘Bicolor’ is a classic garden anemone with a wonderfully crisp, tailored look: clean white petals neatly ringed in raspberry-red, set around a dark central eye. Planted in autumn, it brings poised colour to early spring borders and makes a particularly smart cut flower for small vases and mixed arrangements.

Exceptionally at home in pots as well as the front of a sunny border, ‘Bicolor’ suits cottage-style planting and Mediterranean-inspired schemes alike. In a sheltered position with free-draining soil, it will settle quickly and reward you with a fresh, refined display just as the garden is waking up.

• Botanical name: Anemone coronaria (De Caen Group) ‘Bicolor’
• Type: Fully hardy, perennial corm
• Flowering: March–April
• Planting time: September–December
• Position: Sheltered, sunny spot
• Ideal for: Borders, containers and cutting

Anemone blanda 'Mixed' is one of spring’s most charming little luxuries: a low, naturalising drift of starry, daisy-like flowers in jewel shades of blue, purple, pink and white, each finished with a neat golden centre. Thread it through borders, underplant deciduous shrubs, or tuck into pots by the door for early-season colour with a light, effortless air.

These fully hardy corms settle in quickly and, in the right spot, will return to form a fresh carpet year after year—particularly lovely in rock gardens, at the front of borders, and dotted through lawns for a quietly romantic look.

• Flowering: March–May
• Height: 10–15cm
• Spread: 10–15cm
• Position: Full sun or partial sun (sheltered)
• Soil: Moist but well-drained loam; any pH
• Type: Perennial corm (Fully Hardy)

Anemone blanda 'Blue Shades' is a quietly enchanting little anemone, sending up clear violet-blue, daisy-like flowers just above neat, dark green foliage in early spring. Low-growing and beautifully natural in character, it is particularly lovely in informal drifts beneath deciduous shrubs, along woodland margins, or nestled into pots by the front door where the first colour of the year is most appreciated.

Plant the corms in autumn into humus-rich, well-drained soil and allow them to settle in; in their first season they establish quickly and then return each spring with increasing charm. An excellent choice for underplanting and gentle, pollinator-friendly planting schemes.

• Colour: Violet-blue
• Flowering: March–April
• Height: 15cm
• Planting time: September–December
• Where to plant: Borders, woodland margins, under deciduous shrubs, containers

Anemone coronaria (De Caen Group) 'Hollandia' is a quietly dramatic classic—velvety scarlet blooms, a crisp pale halo, and that unmistakable dark, inky eye. Perfectly poised at the front of a sunny border, and equally handsome in pots where you can admire the detail up close.

Plant in autumn for a refined early-spring display, then enjoy generous stems for cutting—beautiful slipped into small vases, or gathered into a more abundant arrangement with tulips and ranunculus.

• Flower colour: Red with white centre and dark (purple-black) eye
• Form: Bowl-shaped flowers on neat, clump-forming growth
• Best for: Pots & containers, front of border, cottage and Mediterranean-style planting, cutting gardens

Anemone coronaria ‘Levante Rosa Double’ brings a composed touch of romance to early spring—compact plants carrying rose-pink, semi-double blooms with a warm golden centre. Exceptionally pretty in pots by the door or terrace, and equally at home threaded through spring borders, this free-flowering anemone lends itself beautifully to cutting for small, elegant posies.

• Colour: Rose-pink with a golden centre
• Flowering: March–April
• Height: 25–40cm
• Best for: Pots & containers, spring borders, cut flower garden

Autumn planting, spring reward. Plant the corms from September to December in moist, well-drained soil. Choose a sheltered position in full sun or partial sun for the tidiest growth and best display.

Anemone coronaria 'Levante Wine Double' is a wonderfully refined spring-flowering anemone, with fully double blooms in rich wine tones—deep magenta-purple lifted with pale highlights and finished with a near-black centre. Held on neat, upright stems, it brings early-season polish to pots, borders and the cutting garden alike.

Plant the corms in autumn for a poised display from March to May, and let the clump-forming habit weave gently through spring planting schemes. Particularly handsome in containers by the door, where the velvety colour can be appreciated up close.

• Colour: Deep magenta-purple with white highlights and a near-black centre
• Flower form: Double
• Ideal for: Pots & containers, cutting garden, borders
• Season: Autumn planting for spring flowering

Anemone 'Lipsiensis Nemorosa' is a quietly distinguished woodland anemone, offering soft yellow-white, single blooms as spring begins to stir. Ideal for weaving through shaded borders and beneath deciduous trees, it settles into humus-rich ground and, in time, forms an elegant, low carpet of fresh green foliage and flowers.

Plant in autumn and allow it to establish at its own unhurried pace; the effect is particularly lovely when naturalised in drifts, or used to soften the edge of a woodland path. It is fully hardy and well-suited to pots and containers where light is dappled and the soil stays gently moist.

• Flowering: March–April
• Colour: pale yellow to yellow-white
• Habit: ground cover, perennial
• Best position: woodland edge; under deciduous trees and shrubs

Anemone coronaria 'Mistral Bordeaux' (Mistral Series) brings a deliciously rich, bordeaux-toned flourish to early spring, with poised, single blooms held above fresh mid‑green foliage. Elegant in pots by the front door, quietly confident through the border, and particularly fine for cutting, this is a refined choice for gardeners who favour depth of colour and a well-mannered silhouette.

Plant the corms in autumn for spring interest; in colder pockets, a sheltered position will help this half-hardy anemone perform at its best.

• Colour: deep magenta‑purple
• Flowering: March–May
• Height: 25–30cm
• Spread: 10–15cm
• Type: corm (single)

Anemone coronaria 'Mistral Plus Edge' brings a quietly luxurious finish to spring planting schemes. Each crisp, saucer-shaped bloom is held neatly above finely cut foliage, creating a poised display in pots and at the front of the border. Exceptionally pretty in a vase, this refined selection earns its place in the cutting garden with elegant, long-stemmed flowers and a clean, contemporary look.

• Colour: White petals with pink edging and a dark centre
• Perfect for: borders, containers and cut flowers
• Habit: clump-forming perennial with mid-green foliage
• Position: best in a sheltered spot

Why you’ll love it

• Refined spring presence with smart, single blooms and a polished silhouette
• Made for pots—ideal where you want colour close to the house
• Cut-flower favourite for fresh, crisp stems indoors

Anemone coronaria 'Mr Fokker' brings a note of quiet drama to the spring garden: velvety violet-blue, saucer-shaped blooms, each finished with a striking dark centre. It’s a refined choice for borders and containers alike, and particularly charming in the vase—cut a few stems and the whole room looks instantly more composed.

• Colour: Violet-blue with a dark centre
• Best for: Borders, containers and cutting
• Season of interest: Spring flowering

Plant the corms in autumn for a generous show from early to mid-spring, especially in a south-facing, sheltered position with light, well-drained soil.

Anemone nemorosa 'Blue Eyes' is a particularly refined wood anemone, offering crisp white, double blooms, each neatly finished with a violet-blue eye. Designed by nature for dappled shade, it settles happily beneath deciduous shrubs and along woodland edges, where it will return each spring with quiet assurance.

Plant the rhizomes in autumn into humus-rich soil and allow them to naturalise over time. It is especially charming threaded through shady borders, or used as a gentle groundcover in informal plantings.

• White, double flowers with a violet-blue centre
• Ideal for woodland gardens, underplanting and naturalising
• Fully hardy and easy to grow in moist, well-drained ground

Anemone nemorosa ‘Robinsoniana’ is a quietly exquisite wood anemone, treasured for its soft lavender-blue spring flowers with a cool, greyish-cream reverse. Held neatly above finely cut, mid-green foliage, it creates that effortless woodland charm—natural, refined, and wonderfully at home beneath shrubs and deciduous trees.

Rhizomatous and fully hardy, it will settle in gently and broaden into a graceful drift over time—particularly in humus-rich soil that stays moist yet well-drained. An elegant choice for dappled shade, and a most becoming underplanting for spring displays.

• Colour: Lavender-blue with greyish-cream reverse
• Flowering: March–May
• Height: 20cm
• Position: Dappled shade (Partial Sun)
• Planting time: September–December

Anemone nemorosa ‘Royal Blue’ is a quietly exquisite woodland anemone, offering refined lavender-blue flowers with a neat yellow eye from March to May. Low, carpeting and naturally graceful, it slips effortlessly beneath shrubs and deciduous trees, softening the spring garden with an understated, blue-toned haze.

Once flowering has finished, the plant retreats and becomes dormant, leaving space for later companions—an elegant choice for layered planting in shady borders and woodland-style schemes. Given time, it settles in and forms a pleasing colony for naturalistic drifts.

• Spring colour in shade — lavender-blue blooms with a fresh yellow centre
• Ideal for naturalising — rhizomatous habit suits woodland planting and underplanting
• Easy and dependable — fully hardy, and best in humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil

Anemone coronaria ‘The Bride’ is a supremely elegant spring-flowering anemone, carrying crisp white, bowl-shaped blooms finished with a fresh green eye. It brings a clean, lifted note to the front of borders and looks particularly poised in pots on terraces and steps, where its luminous colouring can be appreciated up close.

Equally charming in a cutting patch, this clump-forming perennial produces neat stems for small, refined posies and table arrangements. Plant in autumn for flowers in early spring, and enjoy its quietly confident presence as the season begins to turn.

• Flower colour: White with green centre
• Perfect for: pots, front-of-border planting, and cut flowers
• Plant type: corm (perennial)

Anemone coronaria 'Levante Fucsia' lights up the border with vivid fuchsia-pink double blooms, combining the bold colouring of classic coronaria anemones with the fuller, ruffled form of the Levante series.

Its showy flowers are excellent for cutting and add instant colour to pots and front-of-border displays, especially when planted in generous drifts.

Plant in fertile, free-draining soil in full sun or light partial shade. Soak the corms before planting and avoid positions that remain cold and wet for long periods.

Water while the plants are actively growing and remove spent flowers to keep the display going. In heavy soils, lift and store the corms dry once the leaves have died back.

Armenian grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) is the sort of spring bulb one comes to rely upon: neat, clump-forming foliage topped with dense, upright spires of violet-blue bells, each delicately tipped in white. Thread it through borders for a crisp early lift, tuck it beneath shrubs and roses, or let it quietly naturalise in grass where it will settle in and return with increasing charm.

Exceptionally easy to grow and fully hardy, it is a refined little workhorse for pots, pathways and rock gardens—particularly handsome when planted in generous drifts.

• Colour: Violet-blue with white tips
• Flowering: March to May
• Height: 20cm
• Best for: Containers, borders, underplanting, naturalising in grass

Muscari azureum ‘Blue’ is a particularly refined grape hyacinth, offering airy, light blue spires that arrive in the first true moments of spring. Neat, clump-forming and beautifully obliging, it threads a soft ribbon of colour through the front of borders, pots, rockeries and naturalistic planting beneath deciduous shrubs.

• Flowering: March–April
• Height: 25cm
• Spread: 10cm
• Position: Front of border, edging, under deciduous shrubs
• Bulb size: 6/7
• Pollinator friendly: Yes
• Deer resistant: Yes

Planted in generous drifts, it reads as quietly luxurious—cool blue notes with just enough freshness to lift mixed spring schemes. Allow around two seasons to settle properly, and it will reward you with a dependable return.

For a quietly enchanting start to spring, Chionodoxa forbesii brings neat, starry flowers in an intense blue, each one finished with a crisp white eye. Small in stature yet wonderfully effective, it settles into clumps over time and is particularly handsome when allowed to naturalise—threaded through short grass, tucked into gravel, or dotted along the very front of the border.

Plant in autumn and look forward to a refined haze of early colour from March into April. It is equally charming in containers, where the clear blue reads as distinctly fresh against stone, terracotta, and evergreen foliage.

• Colour: Intense blue with a clear white eye
• Flowering: March–April
• Height (established): 15cm
• Spread: 10cm
• Habit: Clump-forming perennial bulb
• Best for: Naturalising, gravel gardens, containers, underplanting

Crocus 'Aqua' is a refined, early-spring crocus in violet-purple with warm orange centres—just the thing for threading through lawns, gravel and the very front of the border when the garden is beginning to stir again.

Neat, goblet-shaped blooms sit above green foliage marked with a silvery stripe, forming tidy clumps that look particularly smart in pots by the door, scattered through a rockery, or allowed to naturalise beneath deciduous trees.

• Colour: Violet-purple with orange centers
• Best for: Naturalising in lawns, rockery & gravel gardens, pots & containers, and front-of-border detail
• Season: Plant in autumn for flowers from late winter into spring
• Growing level: Easy, fully hardy, and reliably perennial

Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl' is a beautifully refined early crocus, opening in cool pearl-blue tones with a crisp, pale centre. Small in stature yet wonderfully effective, it is just the thing for threading through lawns, skimming the front of borders, or finishing a pot display with a calm, considered flourish.

Plant in autumn and allow the corms to settle; by late winter into early spring, this little classic brings a fresh lift when the garden most appreciates it. Particularly charming when planted in generous drifts for a natural, unforced look.

• Colour: White with pale blue-lilac
• Flower shape: Cup Shaped
• Best for: Naturalising in grass, rock gardens, containers, and the front of borders
• Pollinator friendly: Yes
• Hardiness: Fully Hardy