Best Spring Flowers for Ohio Gardens

It’s finally spring in central Ohio, and one of the best things about spring is the flowers. There’s truly no better way to shake off winter’s cold than with colorful spring flowers. Here is a list of the best spring flowers for Ohio gardens and how to take care of them.

Tulips

Nothing shouts “spring” louder than tulips, which bloom from April to May in Ohio. Tulips are great flowers for garden beds and borders. They also make for a stunning spring display as container flowers.

We love tulips so much that we plant over 500,000 tulips each year across four acres for our Tulip Festival. This April we’ll have our 3rd annual Tulip Festival. It’s one of Ohio’s best and most family-friendly events, and it’s perfect for making long-lasting memories. The festival includes lots of activities, live music, petting goats, kid-friendly rides, food, and more. We can’t think of a better way to ring in spring! You can find out more about the 3rd annual Tulip Festival here.

How to Care for Tulips

Plant your tulips in full sun with well-draining soil. Add bulb fertilizer if you want to give your flowers extra fuel for a head start when you first plant the bulbs. After the flowers are established, fertilize your tulips with bone meal, compost, or granular fertilizer. You can read more about caring for your tulips in our post, “How to Plant Tulips in Ohio and What to Plant with Tulips.”

Azaleas

Azaleas are the gemstones of the shrub world, and there are thousands of varieties to choose from. We especially love azaleas with pink flowers.

These flowering shrubs are a little finicky with frost, so wait until two weeks after central Ohio’s last spring frost date (April 25) to plant your azaleas. You can always buy your azalea in early spring and keep it inside until it’ll be safe from any threat of frost. If you’ve already planted your azalea and there’s a threat of frost, then place burlap over the plant for protection.

How to Take Care of Azaleas

Azaleas don’t mind the shade, and they’re not divas about watering. Spring rain showers usually give them enough water to thrive.

Azaleas like moist, but not soggy, soil that should be well-draining, loose, and acidic. If you don’t know what pH your soil is, then you can get a soil testing kit from your local central Ohio garden center, such as Timbuk Farms. The soil test results will also tell you what kind of fertilizer you need for your azaleas.

Daffodils

You can’t look at daffodils and not feel a bit of spring cheer. They may, indeed, be the happiest spring flowers.

Daffodils are easy to grow and work well in garden beds, as border or edge flowers, in containers, and in rock gardens.

Daffodils can bloom as early as February and throughout the spring until May in Ohio. They are perennials, so they can come back year after year once they are established. Here’s another benefit: daffodils are deer-resistant and squirrels don’t like them.

How to Take Care of Daffodils

Daffodils thrive in full sun, but they can blossom in partial shade as well.

Give your daffodils moist, well-draining soil. Excessively moist soil can rot the flower bulbs, so water the flowers only once a week when you’re establishing them and then reduce your watering once the plant enters dormancy.

Daisies

Daisies are perennial flowers, and they are great for every season since they bloom throughout the spring, summer, and fall. They make for beautiful bedding flowers, container flowers, and border flowers. They come in so many different colors that you can find just about any color you want in daisies. Plus, they are pollinator friendly. Monarch butterflies love daisies!  

How to Take Care of Daisies

Daisies need partial shade or full sun to thrive. They also do well in rich, well-draining soil. Give your daisies fertilizer or compost in the spring, and then don’t overwater them throughout the rest of the year.

Zinnias

Zinnias are big, bold, and beautiful! They also are favorite flowers of local pollinators. So, you can make your garden beautiful and help Ohio’s pollinators by planting zinnias this spring.

Zinnias are gorgeous as border flowers or on their own as stunning garden displays.

How to Take Care of Zinnias

Zinnias thrive in rich, well-draining soil. They are drought-tolerant plants, so you probably won’t need to water your zinnias except on extremely hot days. Give your zinnias a spot with full sun and feed them only occasionally with a well-balanced fertilizer.

Need Flowers this Spring?

We have all of the aforementioned flowers in stock plus thousands more. Our plants are grown locally in Ohio, and we’re proud to sell some of the healthiest and most long-lasting plants in the state. Come check out our flowers for yourself and enjoy the power of flowers this spring.

If you need seeds, plants, soil, soil testing kits, tools, or other gardening supplies, then stop by Timbuk Farm’s Garden Center. Also, if you have gardening questions, then feel free to visit us or give us a call. You can also send us a message.

We’re a family-owned business and we grow everything locally right here in Ohio. We know Ohio gardening, and our garden experts are happy to answer any questions you have about your garden and how to make the most out of spring gardening in Ohio.