This article was prepared with the support of UFL flower delivery. While snow still lies on the ground, parks and woods show their first colours — white, blue, yellow and purple. These tiny plants bloom long before tulips and lilac, and we often admire them without knowing their names. Here are ten of the earliest spring flowers in Ukraine, with photos and tips for recognising them. For garden bulbs and a bloom calendar, see our article on early spring flowers. More flowers with photos, names and meanings are in our guide to types of flowers.
A white nodding flower with three large outer petals and three short inner ones marked green. It blooms in February–March, sometimes pushing straight through snow. All wild snowdrops in Ukraine are in the Red Data Book.
Hellebores bloom in the cold, with large cup-shaped flowers in white, cream, pink or purple and tough leathery leaves. The purplish hellebore grows wild in the Carpathians and is protected, while “Christmas rose” hybrids are popular in gardens. The plant is poisonous.
Goblet-shaped flowers in white, yellow, lilac and purple on short stems. They open into stars in the sun and close at night. In gardens they bloom in March, and in the Carpathians whole meadows turn purple with wild Heuffel’s crocus in spring.
Bright blue stars on a short stem with two leaves. Squills are often confused with snowdrops, but they are blue rather than white. When they bloom en masse, woodland clearings and parks turn blue.
A single lungwort cluster carries pink and blue flowers at the same time: young flowers are pink, and as the nectar matures the cell acidity changes and they turn blue — a signal to bumblebees. It grows in deciduous woods and is an excellent bee plant.
White and yellow daffodils with a central trumpet are among the first garden flowers, opening in April. Their Latin name recalls the Greek myth of Narcissus, who fell in love with his reflection. The daffodil is the national emblem of Wales. Keep them in a separate vase: daffodil sap shortens the life of other cut flowers.
Wild violets — sweet violet, dog violet and others — bloom in April. Look for five petals, the lowest extended into a spur. There are about 500 species worldwide; garden pansies and violas are close relatives.
In April, white wood anemone stars carpet deciduous woods before the trees leaf out, with yellow anemone nearby. Their other name, windflower, comes from the way the delicate flowers sway in the slightest breeze. Like all buttercup-family plants, they are poisonous.
Glossy golden flowers like large buttercups and round shiny leaves. Marsh marigold grows along streams, in marshes and damp woods, and blooms in April–May. It is poisonous and not used in bouquets.
Blue, sometimes pink or white flowers with 6–10 petals appear before the new leaves. Last year’s three-lobed leaves were thought to resemble the liver — hence the name. It blooms in March–April in deciduous woods and groves.
If spring is late, bring it home: greenhouse-grown tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are the best way to share spring without harming nature. More in our guide to 35 spring flowers.
Some of the first spring flowers in Ukraine are protected: snowdrops, netted crocus and pasque flower are listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Picking, digging up or selling them at street markets is prohibited. Enjoy wild spring flowers in the forest and in photos, and for the garden buy nursery-grown snowdrops, crocuses and squills raised specifically for sale.
Snowdrops and hellebores, sometimes in February, followed by crocuses, squills and hepatica.
A squill is blue and faces up like a star; a snowdrop is white and hangs down like a drop.
Don’t dig plants from the wild — for protected species it is illegal. Buy nursery-grown bulbs and plants instead.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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