12 Months of Blooms in Toronto
The earliest blooming flowers bring some of the greatest pleasure. They give us hope that spring is coming and their bright pops of colour are so welcome after the grey of winter. If we have a mild enough winter, it is possible to enjoy nearly 12 months of blooms in your Toronto garden!
If I ask you “what are the first flowers that come up in the spring?”, you’re likely to answer tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. As lovely as these three are, and as many varieties that they offer, if these are the only spring blooms you work with you are missing out on a month or more of flowers in your garden.
Late winter is hard for gardeners and parents. Gardeners are itching to get going; we get twitchy, pace by the windows eyeballing the garden, analyze the weather in detail. Kids and parents do too; being cooped up at home, the weather making outings difficult, and suddenly the snow is fading but the weather still isn’t ideal. Having a task, observation point or a purpose makes getting outside and enjoying that time easier. Hunting for late winter flowers is one way to do this.
Spring is the time to observe these blooms rather then plant them, but if you don’t have them in your garden, you can still go flower hunting at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. Lugging your kids out to look for something you might not find, can result in some epic meltdowns so to prevent this, I have highlighted the locations in the garden to focus on in this video:
If you want to have 12 months of blooms in your Toronto garden (or as close to it as we can have in our climate), then consider adding the following to your own garden.
Winter Blooming Flowers:
November-December
Hamamelis virginiana
Witch-hazel, common witch-hazel.
December-January
Helleborus niger
Christmas-Rose
February
Galanthus
Snow Drops
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise'
Witch-hazel
Helleborus × hybridus
Lenten-Rose
March
Salix discolor
Pussy Willow
Eranthis hyemalis
Winter Aconite
Iris reticulata
Dwarf Iris
Crocus tommasinianus
Early Crocus
Galanthus
Snow Drops
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise'
Witch-hazel
Helleborus × hybridus
Lenten-Rose
Tulipa kaufmanniana and many other varieties such as this blue one.
Dwarf Early Tulip
Once we move into April, many if the more common spring blooms and many more natives are now performing such as hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, violets, bloodroot, hepatica, trillium, primula, scilla and more. Most shrubs and trees that will bloom will have begun their display, such as forsythia, cherry, magnolia, almond, pear, serviceberry. The options begin to open up drastically!
Being selective with what you introduce into your garden is important. Keep in mind that a supplier selling it, does not make it a good fit for your local ecosystem. For more on the impacts of spring bulbs and choosing between them read this next.