(Japanese Allspice, Wintersweet)

Break the dreariness of winter with the fragrant flowers that don the wintersweet. Native to the woodlands in China, this slow-growing shrub with an upright but broad shape can begin to look a bit leggy and unkempt with old age.

Depending on climate, the bare branches reveal many bowl-shaped flowers that face downward, appearing anytime from midwinter to early spring. The fragrant flowers' waxy petals are light lemony yellow with a center that is sienna to purplish brown in color. Dry fruits...

(Chinese Fringetree)

The billowing, wispy, white flower clusters of Chinese fringetree bring a magnificent touch to the spring landscape. Native to eastern China, Korea and Japan, this deciduous plant grows as a shrub naturally but can be trained as a small tree if lower branches are removed. Taking a while for new spring leaves to emerge, the bright green oval foliage has slightly lighter colored undersides that can be hairy. By mid to late spring, the new growth is topped by masses of clusters of white fragrant blossoms,...

(Common Fringetree, Granddaddy Graybeard)

The wispy white flower clusters of common fringetree add a delightful haze to the spring garden. This native to the southeastern United States is a hardy deciduous large shrub or small tree that naturally inhabits moist woodlands. It covers a broad range of distribution, from New York State to Texas, so it is best to plant from regional stock.

When mature, the common fringetree develops an irregular, spreading crown. Its leaves are oblong and medium green with varying degrees of glossiness....

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, these little bulbs from the eastern Mediterranean are wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, they produce clusters of blue, violet, pink, or white blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-seed to form...

(Chionodoxa, Pink Giant Glory-of-the-Snow, Pink Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, 'Pink Giant' is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. A selection or hybrid of the Turkish native Chionodoxa forbesii, this hardy, self-reliant little bulb produces clusters of pink, white-eyed blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics....

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, this little bulb from Turkey is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. Hardy and self-reliant, it produces clusters of four to 12 deep blue blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. The flowers have a small white eye. Two grass-like leaves emerge with the blooms, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-sow to form...

(Chionodoxa, White Chionodoxa, White Glory-of-the-Snow)

Carpeting the garden with starry flowers very early in the year, 'Alba' is wonderful for massing in borders and lawns. A selection of the Turkish native Chionodoxa forbesii, this hardy, self-reliant little bulb produces clusters of pure dazzling white blooms atop short leafless stems in late winter and early spring. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants...

(Chionodoxa, Glory-of-the-Snow)

Charming small bulbous plants that are among the first of all garden plants to bloom in spring. The short tapering leaves precede the thin flowers stems which divide at the top into clusters of up to three star-shaped blue flowers with white centers. Foliage remains for a few weeks after the spring blooming before withering and the plant goes dormant by early summer.

Native to Turkey, this bulb should be planted in sun or part shade exposures in fertile, well drained soil. It will grow and multiply...

(Lesser Chionodoxa, Lesser Glory-of-the-Snow)

Echoing the early spring sky with its low, starry, deep blue flowers, this little charmer from western Turkey bears many deep blue blossoms early in the year. A hardy, self-reliant, bulbous perennial, it produces up to 12 flowers atop short leafless stems. The blooms have small white eyes. Two short grass-like leaves emerge with the flowers, going dormant within a few weeks. The flowers and leaves grow from small rounded bulbs covered with brown tunics. Plants often self-sow to form large colonies....

(Mexican Orange, Mexican Orange Blossom, Mock Orange)

Sweet, citrusy-smelling white flowers adorn the branches of Mexican orange from very late winter to autumn. An evergreen subtropical shrub from the higher elevations of Mexico, it has glossy, compound foliage, each leaf composed of three, oval leaflets that are fragrant if crushed. In late winter, clusters of five-petaled white blossoms cover the plant, emitting an intoxicating fragrance like that of orange blossoms, and attracting honeybees. The first blooming season lasts for weeks, and then flowering...