bloooooooom Eight o's. Don't count, bookmark. Plan a bed

What flowers in April

The perennials, bulbs and shrubs in flower in April, which of them start this month, and how the dates move with your zone.

April is the bulbs' month, and the start of the woodland flowers that hurry to finish before the trees leaf out.

174 of the planner's plants are in flower at some point in April in zone 5, and 133 of them start this month. Spring flowers move with the zone: in zone 7 expect them about two weeks earlier than the dates here, in zone 3 two weeks later.

174 plants: 82 perennials, 37 bulbs, 1 grasse and 54 shrubs.

The dozen to start with

  • Lenten rose

    Lenten rose

    18 in · late March to early May · until early May

    One of the first perennials to flower, with nodding, long-lasting blooms that often open while snow is still melting.

  • Rosemary

    Rosemary

    4 ft · early March to early May · until early May

    The kitchen herb: a dense, aromatic, evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves and small, pale blue flowers from late winter into spring.

  • Creeping phlox

    Creeping phlox

    6 in · mid April to mid May · starts mid April

    A low, spreading mat that turns into a sheet of colour in spring.

  • Japanese camellia

    Japanese camellia

    10 ft · early February to early April · until early April

    Polished, dark evergreen leaves and large, formal flowers in red, pink or white from late winter into spring.

  • Hyacinth

    Hyacinth

    10 in · mid April to early May · starts mid April

    Dense, waxy spikes of intensely fragrant flowers in blue, purple, pink, white or soft yellow, in mid-spring.

  • Grape hyacinth

    Grape hyacinth

    6 in · mid April to early May · starts mid April

    Tight spikes of cobalt-blue beads that make a river of colour under taller spring bulbs.

  • Forsythia

    Forsythia

    8 ft · late March to mid April · until mid April

    Arching branches covered in bright yellow flowers before the leaves in early spring: the signal that winter is over.

  • Japanese pieris

    Japanese pieris

    8 ft · late March to late April · until late April

    An elegant evergreen with drooping chains of white or pink, lily-of-the-valley bells in early spring, and new leaves that open bronze or bright red.

  • Polyanthus primrose

    Polyanthus primrose

    8 in · late March to mid May · until mid May

    Large, bright flowers in almost every colour, most with a yellow eye, in clusters on a single stout stalk above a rosette of crinkled leaves.

  • Siberian bugloss 'Jack Frost'

    Siberian bugloss 'Jack Frost'

    16 in · late April to late May · starts late April

    Heart-shaped silver leaves veined in green stay handsome from spring to frost.

  • Crocus

    Crocus

    5 in · late March to mid April · until mid April

    Goblet-shaped flowers that open wide in early spring sun and feed the first bees of the year.

  • Daffodil 'Ice Follies'

    Daffodil 'Ice Follies'

    16 in · early April to late April · starts early April

    Creamy-white petals around a wide, flat, frilled cup that opens lemon yellow and fades to cream.

A bed at its best in April

The planner was given only the plants on this page that suit zone 6 and full sun, and designed this 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed from them when the page was made. It is a bed for April on purpose, so its design check marks it down for the rest of the year: a real border would add plants for the other seasons.

A 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed at eye level in mid April: Winter heath, Horned violet, Dwarf fothergilla, Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve', Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow', Pasque flower, Golden ragwort, Corsican hellebore, Crown imperial, Hyacinth, Tulip.
A 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun, seen from the path in mid April.
9. Crown imperial99. Crown imperial99. Crown imperial99. Crown imperial99. Crown imperial99. Crown imperial98. Corsican hellebore83. Dwarf fothergilla36. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower61. Winter heath11. Winter heath11. Winter heath12. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet21. Winter heath11. Winter heath11. Winter heath11. Winter heath11. Winter heath15. Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow'55. Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow'55. Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow'55. Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow'55. Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow'54. Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve'44. Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve'44. Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve'47. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort79. Crown imperial99. Crown imperial97. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort77. Golden ragwort72. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet22. Horned violet26. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower66. Pasque flower611. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip11. Tulip10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth10. Hyacinth
From above, to scale. Each circle is one plant, as wide as the room it needs.

The plants

  1. 1 Winter heath × 8, pink
  2. 2 Horned violet × 15, purple
  3. 3 Dwarf fothergilla × 1, white
  4. 4 Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve' × 3, purple
  5. 5 Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow' × 5, green
  6. 6 Pasque flower × 13, purple
  7. 7 Golden ragwort × 11, yellow
  8. 8 Corsican hellebore × 1, green
  9. 9 Crown imperial × 8, orange
  10. 10 Hyacinth × 8, blue
  11. 11 Tulip × 12, red

Planned as a cottage garden: 48 of the 57 plants (84%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Wallflower 'Bowles's Mauve' flowers longest, for 26 weeks. Horned violet is planted in three places along the bed, which gives it rhythm.

The planner's own design check: 8 Excellent, 7 Good, 2 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.

Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.

All 174 plants

Show all 174, by where they go in a bed

Front of a bed 111

Middle of a bed 15

Back of a bed 48

Related guides