Along with its infamous showers, April is a wonderful time for striking colour in the garden. Find out my top ten plants for April gardens here:
1. Erythronium revolutum ‘Knightshayes Pink’ (Fawn Lily)
A very pretty pink flowered Erythronium which attracts pollinating insects and has attractive green and maroon mottled leaves. They thrive in the shade of deciduous trees and once happily established should self-seed. The leaves die down after flowering and the plant becomes dormant during the summer months. The best time to plant is during the summer months. This will give the bulbs time to settle in whilst the soil is still warm.
- Flowers from March to April
- Hardy
- Grows to 20cm tall and 20cm wide
- Fertile, well-drained acidic or neutral soil
- Part shade
- Sheltered
2. Fritillaria meleagris (Snake’s head Fritillary)
These plants are ideal for naturalising in a wildflower border and/or woodland edge setting. They produce handsome, unusual checkerboard-marked flowers often in shades of dark purple, but occasionally also in pink or plain white. They thrive in soil that remains reliably moist year-round, particularly so during the summer months.
- Flowers from April to May
- Hardy
- Grows to 30cm tall and 10cm wide
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Full sun to light shade
- Sheltered
3. Primula japonica (Japanese Primrose)
The first flowering candelabra primrose, producing thick stems topped with pretty, gold-eyed, pink, magenta or white flowers above leaf rosettes.
- Flowers from April to June
- Hardy
- Grows to 60cm tall and 30cm wide
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Sun or part shade
- Exposed
4. Tulipa ‘Burgundy’ (Tulip)
This is the time of year when tulips start to flower in earnest providing a blast of much-needed spring colour. ‘Burgundy’ is an elegant, lily-flowered cultivar with deep purple-violet pointed petals opening wide as the flower ages. Looks stunning planted en masse.
- Flowers from April to May
- Hardy
- Grows to 50cm tall and 10cm wide
- Fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Sheltered
5. Amelanchier lamarckii (June Berry)
A dainty-looking, small tree with several seasons of interest, ideal for the smaller garden. In spring the stems are smothered in star-shaped white, pink flowers, with bronze colour young leaves. These leaves turn to dark green as they age. Purple-black edible berries are formed by June much loved by birds!
- Flowers from March to April
- Hardy
- Grows to 400cm tall and 250cm wide
- Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Sheltered
6. Camellia japonica ‘Nuccio’s Cameo’ (Camellia)
A relatively compact camellia which makes a wonderful specimen shrub or evergreen screen with elegant blush, coral pink double flowers. Make sure the shrub is watered well during periods of dry weather to prevent flower buds from dropping prematurely. And mulch around the base annually with shredded bark.
- Flowers from February to April
- Hardy
- Grows to 800cm tall and 600cm wide
- Humus-rich, moist, well-drained acid soil
- Light shade
- Sheltered
7. Euphorbia myrsinites (Myrtle spurge)
This is a low-growing, sprawling, glaucous-colour-leaved, evergreen perennial whose leaves grow in attractive-looking spirals around the stems. It’s drought tolerant and looks particularly good growing in gravel and rock gardens. And it can also be grown in mixed flower borders.
- Flowers from March to May
- Hardy
- Grows to 30cm tall and 45cm wide
- Most types of well-drained soil
- Full sun to part shade
- Exposed
8. Prunus ‘Accolade’ (Flowering Cherry)
This graceful, ornamental cherry with a spreading, broad canopy is covered in masses of light pink, semi-double flowers during April. Then, the leaves turn vivid shades of orange-red during the autumn. Ideal for a small garden, it gives its best display when planted in full sun.
- Flowers from April to May
- Hardy
- Grows to 600cm tall and 400cm wide
- Fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Sheltered
9. Kerria japonica ‘Golden Guinea’ (Japanese Rose)
An upright, low-maintenance, deciduous, spreading shrub with graceful arching stems. At this time of year, it becomes covered in large, cheerful-looking, golden-yellow flowers. Will grow in most soil types including extremely poor soils.
- Flowers in April
- Hardy
- Grows to 200cm tall and 250cm wide
- Most well-drained soil types
- Full sun to part shade
- Exposed
10. Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’ (Honesty)
A biennial with attractive chocolate colour leaves and lilac flowers with translucent, mother of pearl colour seedheads in the autumn. These make excellent dried-flower arrangements. The nectar and pollen-rich flowers attract bees and butterflies and freely self-seeds around the garden. Sowing seeds early in the year can produce small plants which can be treated as a hardy annual.
- Flowers from April to May
- Hardy
- Grows to 100cm tall and 30cm wide
- Fertile, well drained soil
- Full to part shade
- Exposed
Make sure your April garden is looking has some welcome colour as the days get longer and brighter.
Find out the best fruit to grow this month:
Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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