While most gardeners are usually taking a deep dive into their gardens by this time of year, we Minnesota gardeners are especially resilient, impatiently waiting out whatever spring throws our way. With this year’s frustratingly cold and wet spring as no exception, what is a gardener to do when the tulips and daffodils don’t even want to come out of the ground just yet. Though the weather may suggest otherwise, spring IS here and in no time, pops of perennial color will appear.

While you may be itching to at least get out and tidy up the gardens in preparation for the season ahead, think twice before starting that spring cleanup as perennials aren’t the only life still resting in your gardens. Pollinators overwinter in hollowed stems, twigs, leaf piles, mulch, and more, remaining dormant in a state of diapause generally until temperatures are consistently over 50 degrees for a week or more, where they will then emerge from their winter homes. Avoid any major garden cleanup operations until warmer temps are here to stay and pollinators have had a chance to wake up and relocate. Check out our pollinator blog, ​Gardening with Pollinators in Mind, for more great tips for pollinator-friendly gardening. And while you wait to get busy read over our Early Spring Checklist!

As temperatures begin to warm up and you’ve prepared for the season ahead, start thinking about your perennial beds. Perennials are safe to plant in the ground after the soil has warmed and the garden is workable - generally late April or early May here in the Twin Cities area. In the meantime, newly purchased perennials can generally be kept outside in their pots if night temperatures stay above 40F, though pulling them into your garage for the night at temps below 45F or covering with a frost cloth or sheet is not a bad idea to best protect those swelling spring buds. Planting some of these early spring perennial bloomers will help to cure your winter blues and serve as a great yearly reminder that warmer temperatures and sunshine are just around the corner!

Early Season Perennials for Full Sun (6+ Hours Direct Sun)

• Alchemilla (Lady’s Mantle)
• Iris
• Lupinus (Lupine)
• Mukdenia
• Paeonia (Peony/Itoh Peony)
• Scabiosa (Pincushion Flower)
• Sisyrinchium (Blue-Eyed Grass)

Early Season Perennials for Part Sun or Shade (0-6 Hours Direct Sun)

• Anemone (Windflower)
• Aquilegia (Columbine)
• Bergenia (Pigsqueak)
• Brunnera (Siberian Bugloss)
• Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)
• Ferns
• Geranium
• Helleborus (Hellebore/Lenten Rose)
• Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
• Tiarella (Foam Flower)
• Viola (Violet)

Trees and Shrubs for Early Season Color

• Azalea/Rhododendron
• Cercis (Redbud)
• Forsythia
• Fothergilla (Witch Alder)
• Larix (Larch/Tamarack)
• Magnolia
• Malus (Crabapple)
• Salix (Willow)
• Syringa (Lilac)