Five Friday Favorites - Spring Blossoms

Since it is Gardening Week here at HHH, I wanted to share with you my Five Favorite Blooms for Spring. All of these are hardy Southeastern plants that you can easily incorporate into your landscape.

1.  Azalea - But of course! What would a Southern yard be without at least one azalea? I love this miniature white variety, but I am especially smitten with the new Encores that bloom three times a year. I am always so sad when the blooms are gone and you have to wait a whole year for more. Azaleas will take full sun to partial shade and need lots of water.

2.  Carolina Jasmine -  So fragrant, and so prolific. You can hardly do wrong with this plant. Just plant them in an area with a lot of sun. They will continue to propagate on their own and are easily trained into a trellis or as a great cover for a fence.

3.  Creeping Phlox - A beautiful ground-cover that just begs your attention in the Spring. They come in a variety of colors: red, white, blue, pink, rose, lavender, purple or variegated. They also like full sun and moist but well-drained soil. I love this spray around my neighbor's mailbox in light purple.

4.  Vinca - Another beautiful ground-cover but this one prefers shade. This is Vinca major, but you can also find vinca minor that has a smaller, more delicate bloom. These take a couple of years to really get going, but once they do you will have to keep them trained in. The saying goes, "The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap!"

5.  Weeping Cherry - This beautiful tree is my favorite of all the Spring bloomers. I love the shape of the weeping branches, and the blooms are just spectacular! This is my favorite color, a deep pink, but there are other lighter varieties including a white bloomer. Because their shape allows tons of filtered light below, it makes a great spot to plant a wonderful bulb or other flowering bed underneath the branches.

I would love to see your favorite Spring Bloomer as well! Feel free to send me a picture or post it to our Facebook page or Twitter to share with all our readers.

Happy Gardening!