Spring flowers have that spring-fresh texture and color guaranteed to shake winter off of you, and your spirit. No summer flowers have the blue of clear sky blue pansies, and blue lobelia. Alyssum, the crisp white smell of spring, also comes in lavender, red violet, and purple. Ornamental kales, cabbages, Angelina sedum and coral bells have robust texture and leaf color. Lettuces, parsley, and gold oregano hint of the vegetable garden to come. Yellow and vanilla butterfly marguerites are quite cold tolerant, as is the chartreuse leaved Persian Queen geranium. Annual phlox performs beautifully, blooming on into the heat of the summer. Violas come in all kinds of colors, and bloom profusely. Fresh cut pussy willow twigs, yellow twig dogwood, and artificial grassy stems provide scale and height. Pots of hyacinth, daffodils, and tulips can also be popped into a pot for their duration.
Spring is a season like no other. Give some time to enjoying it. Spring pots are a perfect for a collection of lettuces that will spruce up your salads. A collection of spring pots also helps considerably to stave off the impulse to plant summer pots too early. Most summer annuals despise cold soil and cool temperatures. For everything, the right season. Plant your spring.
I garden in the winter, in one form or another. This past fall, on my mind were show auricula primroses. Their flowers are as beautiful as their forms are varied. The English exhibit alpine auriculas at competitions like we Americans show African violets, and matched topiary pairs at the Philly flower show. The English derive such joy from their gardening, and a dose of joy was what I was after. They even build staging for their auriculas in pots, known as auricula theatres. Wow. Only the English would find such drama in a series of little potted primroses, perfectly grown.