Happy Friday GPODers!
Spring is starting to feel like it is actually in the air throughout North America, but I haven’t seen much of it arrive to Garden Photo of the Day quite yet. To celebrate the season slowly coning to life, I wanted to encourage more spring submissions by looking back at last year’s gardens. You might recall when I shared photos last year from some great spring gardens in the GPOD archive (Check it out, if you missed it: Happy Spring GPOD!), but this year I’m focusing on the sensational scenes we saw in 2025.
Cindy’s Spring in Dallas
This first photo comes from Cindy Bolz in Dallas, Texas, and was one of the earliest spring submissions we received last year. Cindy cultivates many gorgeous blooms, but her colorful foliage plants are always a highlight.
This shows purple oxalis (Oxalis triangularis, Zones 6–10) with white-veined pipeline (Aristolochia fimbriata, Zones 7–9). Each summer I get at least two full cycles of the beautiful black pipevine butterfly (Battus philenor) laying her eggs in these leaves. This is shortly followed by a tribe of little black caterpillars munching their way through every single leaf right down to the roots. Then the leaves grow back and the full cycle repeats.
Early Spring in Beth’s North Carolina Garden, Part 2
Beth Tucker frequently shares her vibrant garden in in Waxhaw, North Carolina, and spring starts the growing season off to a colorful start. Even when Beth was still in the midst of spring-cleanup, her garden was erupting with bountiful blooms.
Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens, Zone 6–10) on the side fence of our backyard.
The Work of the Black Mountain Beautification Committee
Gail Bromer in Black Mountain, North Carolina shared several gorgeous photos of her home garden last spring (The Light of Spring After a Dark Fall and Winter in North Carolina, Part 1 and Part 2), but I wanted to highlight the work she does with a group of volunteers that plant and maintain flower boxes and garden sites throughout her town. These efforts are important community work, but were extra vital after the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene in the region during the fall of 2024.
Creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera, Zones 4–8) creates lovely carpets of color, a classic sign that spring is well underway.
Steve’s Springtime in Atlanta
I greatly appreciate all of the gardeners from southern states that share the spring blooms and interest that emerge from their gardens far earlier than gardens in the north. Steve Schmidt in Atlanta, Georgia has a fascinating palette of plants in his garden, and it was a treat to see what stole the show in spring.
Bicolor epimedium (Epimedium × versicolor ‘Sulphureum’, Zones 5–9) and star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum, Zones 4–9).
Lizzi’s Springtime in Walla Walla
As we get later into the season, other regions start erupting into color and more contributors share the captivating combinations that emerge. Lizzi Gualtieri in Walla Walla, Washington always has a stunning vignette to share, and this vibrant spring foliage combination was no exception.
‘Quicksilver’ hebe (Hebe pimeleoides ‘Quicksilver’, Zones 7–9) is marginal here, but I have it planted in a relatively protected area with the ‘Golden Mop’ cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mop’, Zones 4–8). Black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, Zones 5–10) and giant ‘Ambassador’ alliums (Allium ‘Ambassador’, Zones 4–8) are also in the photo.
Julie’s Spring Garden in Georgia, Part 2
Julie Prince in Albany, Georgia is another contributor who has shared many amazing plants and great combinations, and gave an awesome update on the spring plants in her garden that performed well despite a rare, late snow storm in southwest Georgia.
I have tried several times without success to grow the tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis, Zones 7–10). Much to my surprise, it not only survived the snow, but thrived!
Susan’s Spring Garden at 5,500 Feet
While I always love returning to a garden we’ve seen before, it is exciting to see a new garden make an appearance on Garden Photo of the Day. Susan Buckley in Idaho shared photos from her garden for the first time last spring, and shared the gorgeous plantings she maintains in challenging conditions.
‘Gold Heart’ (Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’, Zones 3–9) and hellebores in my shade garden, my serene, low-maintenance garden ❤️
Karen’s High Desert Garden in Spring
Moving west from Susan’s garden in the mountains of Idaho, Karen Safford shared very different scenes from her high desert garden in Bend, Oregon. The tiered rock garden in Karen’s backyard are filled with a variety of cute blooms and many creeping, crawling plants.
As I mentioned last time, I live in the high desert and have a lot of lava rock in my yard. All of the rock in the pictures is from my yard—nothing was outsourced other than flagstone. This is one of my wetter beds. I have Jack Frost brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’, Zones 3–7), hosta, Johnson Blue geranium (Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’, Zones 4–8), lambs’ ear, and creeping Veronica cascading down the rocks.
Lila’s Azaleas in Washington
A garden that brings a pop of color with each new batch of photos shared is that of Lila Johnson in Mill Creek, Washington. Lila’s garden turns to a wonderful sea of green when spring arrives, but this submission focused on the bright pink azaleas that compliment and breakup that glowing greenery.
A photo from another perspective shows how the bright pink is a fantastic accent to all Lila’s green spring foliage, as well as the purple clematis climbing up her arbor and the shiny blue pot on her patio.
Cleo’s Spring Garden in Washington
Lastly, we return to Washington to see the eclectic landscape of Cleo Raulerson in Bellevue. Cleo has incredible four-season interest in her garden and a selection of plants that keeps her designs exciting year-round, but the burst of color that arrives in spring is still an exciting delight.
Part of our garden is damp clay. Sixteen years ago, I bought seven plants of this candelabra primrose (Primula × bulleesiana, Zones 4–7). The seed heads are left on most of the summer. I now have a wandering stream of these primroses, which is a garden favorite.
Thank you to all these incredible contributors for sharing their stunning spring gardens with us last year (and I do hope we get an update on these landscapes this year), but now it’s time for your spring garden to get featured on the blog! Follow the directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, fill out the Garden Photo of the Day Submission Form.
You can also send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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