Help a newbie out!

[babysnowman]

I'm almost a complete beginner to gardening so looking for some hints and tips please.

I don't have much space to plant anything in the garden but I do have a large patio space and lots of pots. I planted some begonias this year and they were lovely and some other things (which I cant remember the name of!). They all flowered later in summer though and I'd like to have some things that come out in spring time.

Is there anything I can plant in pots now or soon that will flower in spring?

I would go for bulbs. Hyacinths, daffodils, then later tulips.

Look at websites like Sarah Raven, they have great packs to give you lovely combinations so you get things that will look good together, or come up in sequence for a nice long display. Great for beginners, while you get experienced in what things you like together.

Google bulb lasagne and you'll see the kind of thing.

If you have squirrels, consider putting wire over the pots once planted to keep the little blighters at bay.

Another vote for bulbs. Keep some pots aside to plant up in spring with the plants that come into the shops in late spring so you can plant them up early to get going for the summer.

Also, snowdrops do much better if you plant them in leaf. I will be adding a load when they arrive in the shops, in the New Year.

Bulbs bulbs bulbs.
Lots of different ones as they all flower at different times.
You can layer them in tubs so put the later ones at the bottom, earlier at the top.
When they flower you can dig them up and move them around

I came on here to say NOT bulbs. Hee hee. I'm a gardening newbie myself and I found the flowering time of bulbs disappointing. They'd finally pop up, flower for 2 - 3 weeks and then they'd die down. I'd read you shouldn't cut back the foliage immediately so had several weeks of limp leaves afterwards.

By contrast, I've had some other flowers which have flowered for absolute ages - fuschia (non-stop colour!), phlox, stocks, petunias and zinnias have flowered for 4 - 5 months. The zinnias and stocks I grew from seeds quite easily and I had tons of them.

Ah yes, but those are all summer flowering plants.

For early spring, bulbs are where it's at. And if you plant cleverly, they take over one after the next.

Primroses flower quite early too

Thank you!

A bulb lasagna, just googled this, what a great idea! One question, when the top layer has flowered and then wilts/ withers, do I need to do anything to it before the second layer comes through?

Nope, just keep on enjoying the show, and keep it watered. It's important to leave bulbs leaves after flowering, as this is how the bulb restocks energy for the next year's flowers. You should remove faded flowers, so the plant doesn't waste energy in setting seed.

That's great advice, thanks so much

Sorry, completely missed the bit about spring-flowering plants! Bulbs are your best bet in that case. You can also get some pretty spring-flowering azaleas and rhododendrons if you're looking for something perennial.

Forsythia will grow in a large pot, if you’ve no garden to plant it in, as will spring flowering Clematis. Although a clematis need something to grow up, so next to a wall with trellis is best. Or climbing through a tree.
Pansies can be planted now and will give colour through the winter, Primulas also survive the winter and increase their flowers in the spring.
Have you room for a winter flowering Jasmine?

Cyclamen are lovely in autumn and winter. Heucheras and evergreen ferns can also look good.

Gardeners World site has lots of ideas:
www.gardenersworld.com/plants/best-plants-for-winter-containers/

Pansies are my suggestion. Fill your pots with them and they will flower from very early to late spring.

Pansies in my experience never really get going until it's warm enough for better things. I invariably find them disappointing. And end up having to take them out to make way for summer bedding when they still look OK.

A general note - my Dad's advice to me (although not relevant to Spring!) is that if you go to the garden centre every month or so and get something nice, you'll have a flowering garden all year round.

It seems to be working quite well for me so far anyway!

Herbs? And you can eat them. 😋
Get a bunch of tarragon, mint, oregano, thyme, chives, whatever.
Try lavender, honeysuckle, climbing jasmine for scent in pots too
Good luck!

Like that advice @pootles34