Paint a colourful spring scene with our enticing line-up of early spring-flowering shrubs.
You can always rely on a fabulous shrub for early spring flowers. Most of us have that special, reliable friend that never lets us down, no matter what. Striking, spring flowering shrubs are like that, effortlessly elegant and dependable, and whilst many are tempted by spring-flowering perennials, plant a shrub and you pretty much have a friend for life. Shrubs are incredibly versatile too, making seductive screening, pretty flowering hedges or exciting garden features and if you’re a little nervous about pruning your newly planted shrub or hedge take five minutes to browse our handy guide for expert trimming tips.
Colour-burst spring-flowering shrubs
Planting just one shrub this spring will endow your garden with instant maturity, beautiful flowers and foliage and for the most part, shrubs are pretty much problem-free.
Browse our top-fifteen colourful spring flowering shrubs to add architectural texture and year-round appeal to your garden, plus you’ll be doing your bit for wildlife because nesting birds like nothing better than dense leaf cover to raise their fledglings.
If pruning makes you nervous, don’t worry, some need little or no trimming at all and you can always hop over to our handy guide on hedge pruning where you can find out all you need to know.
Best of all, if you’re a bit strapped for cash, you can save money by planting bare-root shrubs in winter for a fraction of the price of potted plants. Ready to make new friends? Let’s dive straight in.
1. Blackthorn
Often mistaken for Hawthorn which flowers that bit later in spring, Blackthorn is a great choice for wildlife lovers. Clusters of white flowers explode in joyful bursts in March followed shortly by fresh, apple-green leaves. Its spiny stems are magnets for nesting birds who are smart enough to recognise a fully-serviced apartment when they see one, knowing if they hang around long enough, they can feast on the autumnal purple-black sloe berries.
Name: Prunus selections
Growing conditions: Full sun, well-drained soil, flowering reduced in shade
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: Up to 4m
Garden Tip: If you’re a generous sort of gardener, (and most of you are,) you can harvest enough berries to make winter sloe gin and still leave enough left for our feathered friends.
2. Flowering Currant
Of all spring-flowering bushes flowering currants are probably the most recognisable, drenched with enticing chandeliers of fragrant dark pink flowers ahead of vibrant mid-green leaves that tells us spring has arrived at last. They lose their leaves in late autumn and make stand-out feature plants or enticing, informal-scented garden screens and attractive year-round hedges.
Name: Ribes selections
Growing conditions: Full sun, moist, well-drained soil, flowering reduced in shade
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: Up to 2.5 m
Garden Tip: Buddy them up with native hedging plants for an appealing tapestry.
3. Forsythia
If you love a bright spring sunburst, you’ll love forsythia. With subtle primrose shades to rich golden flowers, Forsythia are graceful and as tough as they come, bringing welcome sunshine splashes into even the gloomiest gardens from late February to April.
Name: Forsythia selections
Growing conditions: Full sun /part shade sun, moist, well-drained soil, flowering reduced in shade
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: 0.5-4m
Garden Tip: Forsythia petals make a scrummy quince-like jelly. Steep petals in boiling water for 4 hours to make a tea infusion and then follow any jam-making recipe using pectin, lemon and sugar and you’re done.
4. Gorse
We’re so used to seeing Gorse growing on heaths or along sandy lanes, it’s surprising more of us aren’t growing it at home. Wafting exotic coconut fragrance from golden wands from January to June, it happily flowers its socks off even in tricky windy spots. A much underrated bushy, evergreen, Gorse is pretty much indestructible, generally problem-free and doesn’t demand much in the way of pruning, just a trim every 2-3 years to maintain size and shape or remove unsightly stragglers as they appear.
Name: Ulex selections
Growing conditions: Full sun, well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: Up to 2.5m
Garden Tip: Long hot summers often trigger maroon pea pods after the flowers.
5. Dogwood
It’s almost a shame when the fresh green leaves and pretty white sprays of Dogwood flowers arrive from March to mid-May cloaking ruby red, flame-tipped orange or achingly bright yellow winter stems. Famed for their colourful canes, it may surprise you to learn Dogwood make excellent informal hedges for summer screening, are easy to care for, trouble-free and attract birds as well as the pretty powder blue Holly Blue butterfly who likes laying her eggs on the flower buds.
Name: Cornus selections
Growing conditions: Full sun, well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: 1.5m – 8m
Garden Tip: Plant different varieties together for a multi-coloured garden screen.
6. Hawthorn
We see Hawthorn scattering their fragrant blossoms along winding country lanes from May to June but did you know they make excellent hedging and garden trees too? Shiny green leaves fade to burnished autumn gold-orange tones and when leaves drop in winter, the dark stems seem to shine on sunny, frosty mornings. Ideal for hedging or a focal point in informal and wildlife gardens.
Name: Crataegus selections
Growing conditions: Full sun, well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: Up to 8m
Garden Tip: Here’s a handy hack for short-of-space gardeners: get creative by training into standard cubes and grow in containers.
7. Pyracantha
Thorny-stemmed pyracantha are fast-growing, standout versatile May flowering garden shrubs. Set against deep green, glossy leaves, the dense clustered creamy flowers are arguably eclipsed by lashings of red, orange and yellow berries come autumn. Try it as a climber to camouflage an unsightly wall, use it as hedging or as a feature shrub.
Name: Pyracantha selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Partial shade, moist well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing, sheltered and exposed spots
Size: 1.5-4m
Garden Tip: Pyracantha are loved by foraging birds and handy for fresh festive decor too.
8. Wayfaring Tree
If you’re searching for more unusual plants for spring, make room for the pretty Wayfaring tree on your list. Its name is misleading since it’s a fabulous silver-sage-green leafed shrub with dreamy, white-domed flowerheads from April. Shiny red berries darkening to black in autumn make it a rare shrub for all seasons.
Name: Viburnum selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Partial shade, any moist well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spots
Size: 2-4m
Garden Tip: Did you know that back in the day, the bendy stems were used to make arrows and tie hay bales?
9. Juneberry
Who could resist a deciduous shrub or small tree (it can be grown as either,) with such a romantic name? Juneberry is a spring-flowering shrub that keeps on giving. Charming copper-tinted young foliage is followed by pretty starry white flowers from March to April, and sumptuous dark plum berries in June.
Name: Amelanchier selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Partial shade, moist well-drained soils, except chalk
Where: North, East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spot
Size: Up to 10m
Garden Tip: Harvest the fruit for jam making.
10. Wild Cherry
More a deciduous medium-sized tree than a spring-flowering shrub, you’ll forgive us if we’ve cheated a bit but it would be a shame to miss out on the opulent snowy-white April showers of cherry blossom for the sake of a few feet. The autumnal red fruits are sadly bitter but are more than compensated by glorious bonfire shades of autumn foliage.
Name: Prunus selections
Growing conditions: Full sun, moist well-drained soil
Aspect: Ideal for sheltered and exposed spots: North, East, South or West-facing
Size: Up to 12m
Garden Tip: You might enjoy growing Wild cherries as an unusual decorative hedge since they are also available as bare root plants in winter.
11. Hypericum
More commonly known as St. John’s Wort or Rose of Sharon, of all spring flowering shrubs Hypericum are one of the easiest to grow. Largely trouble-free and easily adapted to every outdoor space great and small, they can be tall, dwarf or ground-hugging. All are either deciduous or semi-evergreen and no matter what cultivar you choose, plants are festooned with vibrant flowers from May ranging from warming shades of pale lemon to attractive daffodil-yellow hues.
Name: Hypericum selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Part- Full shade, moist well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spots, drought tolerant
Size: 0.5-3m
Garden Tip: If you’re a budding florist, their decorative ivory, blush pink, sunset-orange or pale green autumn berries come in handy for vases.
12. Berberis
Barberries are incredibly versatile plants ranging from compact ground-cover to tall appealing shrubs with a dizzying parade of leaf colours to choose from. They can be evergreen or lose their leaves in autumn, displaying emerald, lime green, moody purple or brick red foliage. All generally flower from April to June with an array of pink or yellow dainty flowers followed by glistening red autumnal berries.
Name: Berberis selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Part shade, moist well-drained soil
Size: 0.5m- 2m
Where: North, East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spots/drought tolerant
Garden Tip: Often planted to encourage nesting birds, the thorny stems offer protection against predators so plant one of these delightful spring flowering plants and you’ll be giving local wildlife a helping hand too.
13. Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
A fantastic decorative bushy shrub, the sand cherry is hung with gorgeous, delicately perfumed pale pink blossoms from April to May against striking purple-red leaves. Elegant and adaptable for both large and small gardens, this has surely got to be in your Top Ten!
Name: Prunus selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Part shade, moist well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spots, drought tolerant
Size: 1- 1.5m
Garden Tip: Stunning as a feature plant in lawns or lining a driveway.
14. Weigela
Weigela are fabulous plants for spring – from April these bushy shrubs burst with eye-catching tubular flowers in delightful shades of rose, shell-pink, white, plum and even pillar-box red. No wonder they prove such a popular choice for early spring colour. Add marvellous foliage into the mix, including marbled, deep green and autumn reds and you have a trouble-free shrub with a wide choice of low-to-tall-growing types to suit every outdoor space.
Name: Weigela selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Part shade, moist well-drained soil
Where: North, East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spots
Size: 0.5-2.5m
Garden Tip: Plant against evergreens for eye-popping colour contrast.
15. Potentilla
Cinquefoil are vibrant spring flowering perennials as long as you can offer a reliable sunny spot and there’s a dazzling parade of flower colour to choose from. Reds, whites, crimsons, apricots, primrose yellows and lilacs mean you can mix and match your flower borders and they’re trouble-free too. Low-growing, they make delightful leafy clumps studded with flowers from May and often right through to October – that’s a lot of bang for your buck.
Name: Potentilla selections
Growing conditions: Full sun/Part shade, moist well-drained soil
Where: East, South or West-facing/sheltered and exposed spots
Size: 0.5m- 1m
Garden Tip: A great plant choice for hot border colour themes.
