spring flowers | The Last Krystallos

Spring has arrived and brought with it the first horticultural signs of new life…
feast your eyes on the beauty of Spring!

These are the first signs in my part of the world…how do they compare to yours?

snowdrop, flowers, spring flowers, white flowers, the last krystallos,

Snowdrop © Lisa Shambrook

Snowdrop (Galanthus): I adore the tiny British Snowdrop, I look forward to its little nodding head and vibrant green marks. It’s a sign that winter is beginning to draw to a close. It generally flowers before the vernal equinox marking the arrival of spring in the middle of March, but can flower from midwinter on.

vinca, periwinkle, blue, purple, purple flowers, the last krystallos,

Vinca © Lisa Shambrook

Vinca (commonly known as periwinkle): This always delights me with that shock of purple spreading like a carpet of blue across the woodland floor and winding up tree stumps. In India the plant is known as sadaphuli meaning ‘always flowering’.

scilla, blue, spring, flowers, blue flowers, the last krystallos,

Scilla © Lisa Shambrook

Scilla: Blue seems to be the colour for spring, and the dainty, delicate Scilla peeps out of the bare ground in the early months of the year. It’s usually native to woodlands and meadows where I live.

chionodoxa, blue, star, flower, blue flowers, spring, the last krystallos,

Chionodoxa © Lisa Shambrook

Chionodoxa: Another beautiful blue bulb known as glory-of-the-snow also opens its petals in the early months, and produces some of the truest blue in all horticulture. Its tiny starry-eyed flowers brighten up the early months.

narcissi family, narcissi, narcissus, daffodils, daffs, sunshine yellow, yellow flowers, the last krystallos,

Narcissus Family © Lisa Shambrook

Daffodil/Narcissi (Narcissus): Perhaps the most famous spring flowers in every array of sunshine yellow you can imagine. Generally small narcissi flower first, heralding spring and paving the way for the daffodils and their huge trumpets of colour.

primroses and cowslips, spring flowers, yellow flowers, meadows, yellow, spring, the last krystallos,

Primroses and Cowslips © Lisa Shambrook

Primroses (Primula vulgaris) and cowslips (Primula veris): Meadow flowers that spread through fields, woodlands and everywhere they can. The primrose was Benjamin Disraeli’s favourite flower, and cowslips are my mother’s favourite. Hardy and one of the first splashes of creamy yellow as the days get warmer.

wild violets, violet, purple, flowers, purple flowers, spring, the last krystallos,

Wild Violets © Lisa Shambrook

Wild violets (Violaceae): As much as I love pansies and violas, I can’t imagine spring without the tiny wild violets that pop up from nowhere and spread through the garden’s nooks and crannies, and their colours are softly beautiful.

qxalis, wood sorrel, common wood sorrel, woodland flowers, white flowers, spring flowers, the last krystallos,

Oxalis © Lisa Shambrook

Oxalis (Oxalis acetosella): There are many varieties of oxalis, but the common wood sorrel is the one I love best. The fragile petals have delicate stripes in the palest of pink and remind me of fairy dresses. The leaves can be eaten, but are quite sour.

wood anemone, fairy wings, white flowers, spring flowers, woodland flowers, woodland, the last krystallos,

Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa): These white flowers can be starry shaped or have big petals like fairy wings, and swathe the woodland floor in March and April like a galaxy of stars. One of my all-time delicate favourites.

forget-me-not, blue flowers, spring flowers, the last krystallos,

Forget-me-not (Myosotis): Another true blue of the horticultural world. In a German legend, God named all the plants when a tiny unnamed one cried out, “Forget-me-not, O Lord!” God replied, “That shall be your name.”. These are truly unforgettable sky-blue little flowers that in a clump can look simply stunning.

bluebells, purple flowers, bells, bell flowers, wooodland flowers, the last krystallos,

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta): This flower becomes your bonus (number eleven) in this post. It’s my favourite flower and will have a post all of its own…but for now…enjoy another bonus of spring and the prominent blue that blankets the woodland in April and May.

Like I said…this is my little corner of the world, Wales in the UK…
how fares yours this Spring?

What are your favourite Spring flowers?

If you’d like to see more of my flower photography please take a look at my
Flickr page and The Shutterworks Photoblog…