Spectacular Early Blooming Shrubs: 6 Sparkling Spring Flowering Bushes

Spring has its own traditions – with fun ones like watching for daffodils to bloom, and less fun ones like spring cleaning. You can create a few more delightful seasonal traditions by planting some unique and unusual spring flowering bushes. The coolest thing about spring flowering shrubs is that they appear on otherwise bare branches, before the trees leaf out. But which work best with your climate, hardiness zone, garden and personal style? Here are some of the best flowering bushes for early season floral symphonies you can appreciate for many springs to come.

Choosing the Best Spring Flowering Bushes

The allure of spring blooms makes several shrubs worthy of your attention. Not only can they help brighten up the garden after a quiet phase, several flowering shrubs attract pollinators to your patch with early season nectar. Some, like viburnum and camellia, can make dynamic hedge shrubs as well as specimen bloomers, adding easy color and visual interest to front yards and also protecting borders.

Shrubs like Spicebush and Viburnum Winterthur, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, also bring birds to the garden with gorgeous berries as summer shifts to fall. Indeed, some of the best spring flowering shrubs offer multi-layered interest that has the potential to charm and delight across multiple seasons. So keep all this in mind when selecting spring blooming bushes for your yards and patios.

1. Sunshine Forsythia

Forsythia shrubs make exquisite flowering spring bushes. They require little maintenance and become reliable bloomers. Together with daffodils, the bright blooms of forsythia announce that spring is on its way. Forsythia leaves are a discrete forest green during the height of summer, turning purple in fall. But it’s the brilliant flowers of forsythia varieties such as Sunshine (Forsythia x intermedia) that make these spring blooming shrubs stand out.

The species plant grows into a small tree, with flowers on the upper branches. Still, you can get dwarf cultivars like Springshine that stay under two feet (60cm) tall. Another attraction of Sunshine is that it flowers from the top of the plant to the ground. For the best forsythia care, grow in USDA hardiness zones 4-9.

2. Wentworth Viburnum

You aren’t the only one who is going to fall in love with ‘Wentworth’ (Viburnum trilobum). Bees and butterflies will flock to the nectar provided by the ivory flowers that open in May. The leaves of these viburnum shrubs are an attractive deep green, shaped like tridents. Meanwhile, autumn brings red berries that hang on the branches into winter, providing essential food for birds and other wildlife.

You can also look forward to an autumn foliage show, as the leaves turn purple-red. You will find that ‘Wentworth’ viburnum, in the Gardening Know How Shop, is a terrific spring blooming shrub and thrives in USDA hardiness zones 4-9.

3. Nuccio's Bella Rossa Camellia

Bella Rossa (Camellia japonica 'Nuccio's Bella Rossa') is a camellia for the ages – but it certainly pops in the early season. This spring blooming shrub tops out at six feet (2m) tall by eight feet (2.6m) wide. If you are willing to care for this camellia shrub, you will find that it offers dramatic crimson flowers that seem to last forever.

The huge, showy blooms contrast beautifully with the shiny green leaves of these spring shrubs. They work well as specimens or massed in Asian gardens. The leaves last all winter long in warmer climates. Grow in USDA hardiness zones 4-9.

4. New Jersey Tea

This Ceanothus is a popular shrub, with its compact, mounding habit, reaching just three feet (1m) tall. It takes a founded shape as it matures, with toothed glossy leaves and abundant cylindrical clusters of small white blossoms. They emit a delightful fragrance, growing on long stalks in late spring. New growth is yellow and is eye-catching in winter. The New Jersey Tea shrub, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, gets its name from the tea that was made from its leaves during the American Revolution.

Grow a New Jersey Tea shrub (Ceanothus Americanus) and you’ll be cultivating a host plant for several native butterflies, and attracting tiny insects which are food for hummingbirds. This shrub requires little maintenance in well-draining soil. Its roots sink deep, making the plant drought tolerant. It’s so tough, it’s a great go-to solution for hard-to-plant areas. Thrives in USDA hardiness zones 3-9.

5. Mount Airy Fothergilla

This deciduous shrub is often known for its deep blue-green leaves that have a spectacular range of fall color. However, honey-scented white flowers appear before foliage emerges in spring. You can grow fothergilla shrubs like ‘Mount Airy’ (Fothergilla major) as a background shrub or hedge plant. It grows slowly to six feet (2m) and gets about the same spread.

The fothergilla cultivar ‘Mount Airy', available to buy in the Gardening Know How Shop, is a dwarf shrub cultivar and its spring flowers are bottlebrush-style. Not forgetting the attractive fall color of the foliage, as the leaves turn variegated red, yellow and purple. So this compact shrub brings long lasting seasonal interest. Grow in USDA zones 4-9.

6. Star Magnolia

Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) is a stunning spring-flowering shrub. Since it can get to 12 feet tall (4m), it can also be termed a small tree. This magnolia has a rounded growth habit, with forest green leaves that offer no fall color. But the crowning glory is the flower display. Each blossom is shaped like a star, four inches (10cm) in diameter, with a deep and beautiful fragrance. They appear on the bare branches in late winter and early spring.

When caring for star magnolia, you’ll find this shrub does best in a sunny location. It thrives in loamy, moist soil. The best planting sites will have eastern or northern exposures, with USDA hardiness zones 4-9.

Other Great Ideas for Shrubs

• Keen to grow gorgeous shrubs that look good all year round? Check out these 8 low maintenance evergreens you can be sure will keep coming strong all year long.
• Fancy making more of a feature of the color green and looking for the perfect shrub to create the most stunning flowers? Try growing a Limelight hydrangea for billowing blooms and a long season of flamboyant features.
• Looking for the most unusual natives that will grow in harmony with your local gardening environment? These unique native shrubs are resilient, dynamic, and wildlife friendly.
• Add some vibrant tones to your yard with cool blues and deep purples – see our Blue and Purple Plants in the Gardening Know How Shop for a range of striking options.

This article features products available from third party vendors on the Gardening Know How Shop. Keep in mind that our plant inventory is limited - so if you’re thinking of purchasing, don’t wait!