Early-blooming shrubs – Pretty cool garden residents

Are gardens gray, dull, and boring in winter? Not at all! With the right shrubs in the garden, the start of the new year can be colorful and exciting! Early-blooming shrubs announce the arrival of spring and bring color into play.

If you've always thought that snowdrops are the first to appear in the garden and announce spring, you've underestimated the early-blooming shrubs. They are the unsung heroes of the gray season!\*

This is especially true for the winter viburnum. It starts blooming as early as December, and its flowers are immune to even frost. The winter viburnum can grow up to two meters tall, and its flowers, as the name suggests, resemble small, delicate pink snowballs. What makes the winter viburnum so special: its flowers not only withstand snow and ice, but they also emit a very pleasant fragrance. If you thought forsythia blooms in December: think again! This isn’t forsythia; it’s winter jasmine. Although it looks quite similar to forsythia, it shows its first yellow flowers in December, well before the forsythia even thinks about waking up.

But why should plants bother to bloom in winter when it's still cold outside? After all, summer is warmer, sunnier, and generally more cheerful. But that's exactly the thinking behind the strategy of early-blooming shrubs: in summer, the competition is too fierce. Nature practically explodes in summer, and flowers are everywhere, attracting bees, bumblebees, and other pollinators. It's hard to get a piece of the pie. That's why winter viburnum and others bloom when competition is especially low. But even though their flowers may not be as eye-catching as the many colorful blooms in summer beds, many early-blooming shrubs stand out with very extravagant flowers. The witch hazel is the best example. Its frayed flowers appear as early as January in bright yellow, orange, or red and have an especially enticing fragrance.

Early-blooming shrubs do what no other plants can: they bring color to the cold season. This makes the anticipation of spring even greater. Among the absolute stars is the magnolia. Especially the star magnolia shows its large, fascinating flowers, usually white to light pink, starting as early as March, and continues to captivate its viewer until May. It is then followed by the Japanese quince, which starts showing its white or red flowers at the end of April. The hazel also becomes a real eye-catcher from March onwards: it impresses with its bright yellow catkins, which can be seen from afar. These early-blooming shrubs definitely bring color and joy to the dreary season and make you crave more!