Your garden’s spring makeover starts here: British Garden Centres’ guide to the best plants for colour right now
Spring is the perfect time to add vibrant shades and freshness to your garden, and we all need some spring colour in our lives to chase away the cold and wet days of winter! Planting up pots, hanging baskets or borders with beautiful spring flowers is a wonderful way to banish the winter blues and give your garden, patio or windowsill a makeover. Here are some of the best spring plants that you can add to your outdoor space right now.
Bellis
Bellis is a spring plant that blossoms with vibrant colours and delicate petaled flowers. This perennial thrives in cool temperatures and moist soil, making it suitable for spring gardens, bringing a pop of colour with it. Bellis is easy to grow and requires minimal maintenance, making it an ideal choice for both experienced and novice gardeners. With proper care, Bellis will continue to bloom throughout the spring season, adding to any outdoor space, whether placed in borders or pots
Camellias are great spring plants because they bloom early whilst some plants are coming out of dormancy in spring, bringing lots of bright colours after winter’s darker days. They come in many different colours, including pink, red, and white, and different flower shapes too. They have a long flowering period, so you can enjoy them for weeks over the season. They are also evergreen, so even when the flowers fade, you still have colour and interest in your garden.
Erysimum
Erysimum, commonly known as the wallflower, is a popular spring plant due to its vibrant and colourful blooms. This hardy perennial thrives in well-drained soil and full sunlight, making it an excellent choice for gardeners looking to add a burst of colour to flower beds or containers. With a variety of shades available, ranging from deep purples to bright yellows, Erysimum will complement any garden design. Its long blooming period and attractive fragrance make it a standout choice for the spring season and beyond.
Primrose and Polyanthus
Primroses and polyanthus are vibrantly coloured plants that are synonymous with spring. These early bloomers thrive in cool temperatures and partial shade, making them ideal for early spring planting. With a variety of colours ranging from pale pastels to rich jewel tones, primroses can brighten up any garden bed or container and are ideal for hanging baskets or window troughs if short of space. These versatile plants are relatively low maintenance, requiring only regular watering and well-drained soil to flourish. Planting in clusters can create a stunning visual impact, bringing spring vibes to your outdoor area.
Lavender
Lavender is renowned for its heavily scented, deep purple flowers that are loved by pollinators. This hardy perennial thrives in various climates, tolerating both extreme cold and heat, making it ideal for any spring garden. With its fuss-free and fast-growing nature, lavender offers an easy-to-care-for option for gardeners, producing gorgeous displays that attract bees. Its resilience and stunning blooms make it perfect for any spring garden or container.
Pansies/Violas
Want instant spring colour? Pansies and violas are your go-to plants for hanging baskets, containers, borders and beds. They love the cool spring weather and will bloom all season with their cheery colours. Both pansies and violas have edible flowers and are also often used as garnishes in food and in cocktails too. They are pretty hardy too and cold tolerant, meaning they are perfect for the unpredictable UK weather.
Potted bulbs
If you missed the planting window for spring bulbs last autumn, don’t fret, as you can still have instant colour in your garden with potted bulbs. With a wide variety of potted bulbs like tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths available, they are often fully blooming, so you can plant them immediately when you get home, whether it be in container displays, window boxes or in your flower beds.
Senetti
Senetti delivers an instant, spectacular spring impact with its bright purple daisy flowers, transforming any space into a colourful display as the garden wakes up from winter. Perfect for both borders and containers, this bedding plant thrives in sunny or partially shaded spots, making it easy to place and enjoy. While not fussy about soil, Senetti appreciates consistent moisture, so don’t let it dry out.
Julian Palphramand, Head of Plants at British Garden Centres said: “At British Garden Centres, we want every garden to be bursting with colour after the winter months. We have a great selection of instant colour plants to create your own springtime display and transform your outdoor space, whether it be a garden border, patio container or balcony box, spring starts at your local centre.”
British Garden Centres (BGC) is the UK’s largest family-owned garden centre group with 72 centres around the country. The group is owned and led by The Stubbs family, who also own and operate Woodthorpe Leisure Park in Lincolnshire.
BGC was launched in 1987 with the opening of Woodthorpe Garden Centre by brothers Charles and Robert Stubbs. Since 2018 it has expanded rapidly with the acquisition of 50 garden centres allowing it to grow from its heartland to the business it is now with 72 garden centres spread from Carmarthen to Ramsgate, Wimborne to East Durham.
The group has a team of 3000 colleagues working across the garden centres, restaurants, growing nurseries, distribution centres, Woodthorpe Leisure Park, and Woody’s Restaurant & Bar.
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