Nature’s celebration of renewal starts in wildflower meadows and cultivated gardens. Spring-blooming flowers, many with cultural connections to this seasonal observance, bring vivid color and floral fragrance to the second season.


Apple blossoms

This spring-blooming flower is so popular, there are numerous American festivals in its honor and two states claim the plant as their own.

Azaleas

Like many spring bloomers, this species of Rhododendron is a festival favorite around the world, especially in Asia and Europe, but they are prolific in the southeastern United States too.

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets are one of the most well-known wildflowers in the United States, native to one state and as cherished as its symbolic flag. 

Calla lily

Since the days of the Roman Empire, lilies have been symbolic with spring because of this spiritual connection, but this specific flower is slightly different.

Cherry blossoms

Cherry blossoms are synonymous with spring around the world, especially in one country, but American cities from east to west celebrate the spring blooms with annual festivals.

Crocus

The cup-shaped perennials are often referred as the first flowers of spring, since they bloom in the first quarter of the year. Sometimes the plant’s colorful petals are even visible through snow.

Daffodils

Through immortalized in poetry, song, play and film, this spring-flowering bloom is more widely known by another name.

Dogwoods

Like many spring-blooming flowers, the dogwood’s popularity stretches around the world. But nowhere are the flower – and the tree – more popular than in the southeastern United States.

Forsythia

This spring-blooming shrub produces pretty yellow flowers, and is one of the few plants on the list named for an actual person.

Gardenia

Like many spring bloomers, this flowering evergreen is native to tropical and subtropical climates around the world. But several species grow in one American state. Similar to forsythia, gardenias were named for an actual person.

Hyacinth

These spring-blooming plants are native to the Mediterranean region, and this Middle Eastern country with specific cultural significance.

Iris

This fan-shaped, spring-flowering perennial has inspired famous masterpieces and a cultural symbol.

Lilacs

Many spring-blooming flowers are associated with Easter and celebrated with festivals, and this woody plant enjoys a similar popularity. One of the longest-running festivals is in the northeast United States.

Magnolias

Named for a French botanist, this spring-blooming flower so ancient that it evolved before bees. This insect serves at the plant’s pollinator.

Pansies

Spring-blooming pansies are small flowers with a long history. They are the symbolic flower of an Asian city, and they are captured in famous masterpieces

Pasque

This bell-shaped flower’s native habitat is meadows and prairies and has been a traditional medicine among Native Americans, especially this tribe, for centuries. 

Peach blossoms

These delicate pink flowers bloom before the appearance of leaves, or the fruit. The ancient plant is native to an equally old country with numerous folktale connections.

Peony

The globe-shaped flower is part of the herbaceous plant. Like many spring-blooming perennials, this flower has an ancient lineage, including a connection to an Asian city

Poppy

This spring-blooming flowers are usually associated with a more ominous purpose, but from ancient times this colorful plant has been a seasonal staple, especially on this commemorative occasion.

Primrose

An early spring blooming flower, the primrose is a favorite in northern climates. The herbaceous perennial was the favorite flower of this historical figure.

Tulips

While these spring-blooming perennials are firmly associated with this country, commercial cultivation started in this historic empire.