Crimson and gold primroses multiply profusely in Elizabeth Hunter's garden.

Primroses Cool weather perennials, primroses exhibit very strong body language when conditions aren’t to their liking. They wilt dramatically on hot, dry summer days (watering revives them) though not even our prolonged 2007 drought did them in. Single- or double-flowered (there are 400 to 500 species of low-growing herbs in the Primula genus), they come in pale white, yellows and pinks – as well as bright reds and purples. A good choice for the north side of the house, or anywhere in the shade you want a spot of color, they can be set out in early spring even if they are already in bloom. Divide clumps immediately after they finish blooming. Plant in moist, rich, slightly acidic soil (pH 6.5), at least six inches apart. Expect to have to thin (and thin) in future years. Hardiness ranges, depending on variety, from zones 3 through 10. —EH

Picture the flowers of earliest spring and what comes to mind? Crocuses, daffodils and glowing forsythia. Yet a trio of old fashioned favorites – flowering quince, pansies and primroses – blooms equally early, and will infuse your garden with a broader spectrum of early color.

Flowering quince and pansies inform memories of my New England childhood, which may be why I’ve made room for them. (That, and that heartening explosion of early color.)

A decade ago, when a friend dug a bare-rooted start of “Japonica” (as quince is called by my oldest neighbors) from an abandoned homestead and brought it to me, I was delighted. Thanks to persistent and severe trimming by some manner of wildlife (deer? rabbit?) and the somewhat shady location I chose for it, that quince hasn’t done nearly so well as a second start someone gave me a couple of years ago. Last spring, this still-scraggly shrub shocked me by covering itself in brilliant blossoms.

Flowering quince pushes its luck, beginning to bloom “in late winter, usually well before it’s safe to do so… to test the weather,” writes retired Arkansas extension horticulturist Gerald Klingaman, with obvious admiration. “These old plants become a tangle of branches, but they persist for many years without benefit of pruning.”

Flowering quince is a tough shrub, from its brave late winter blooming to its long-lived tangles of branches, which may serve to protect nests and to keep unwanted creatures out.

Flowering Quince What an accommodating shrub! Flowering quince grows in zones 4 through 8 and can tolerate partial shade to full sun; wet, moist or dry conditions; sandy, loam or clay soils; and a pH range from 3.7 to 7.0. Native to China, Japan and Korea, there are three species in the flowering quince (Chaenomeles) genus, as well as hybrid cultivars developed by the horticultural trade. The shrubs are bushy and can grow six to 10 feet tall, with a spread of six to 12 feet, although creeping cultivars are available. Bloom color runs from shades of red to pinks and white. Blooming period is 10 to 14 days. Quince fruits are produced erratically, are tart (and rich in Vitamin C), and can (if you can find enough of them) be made into jelly. —EH

That’s true of the quince in my mother’s Vermont yard. I’m never there to see it bloom, but each fall I do battle with the grapevine that, under cover of the quince’s dark and lustrous foliage, infiltrates it every summer. The tangle – and the shrub’s stout thorns – provides a pair of complaining catbirds with a safe place to nest. (Quince hedges were once planted as natural animal barriers.)

Flowering quince desires both sun and space (though it will bloom less lavishly in partial shade). If you don’t have much of either, pansies and primroses provide ground-hugging masses of longer-lasting color. In 2006, I lined my front walk with pansies in the fall, hoping they would bloom in our increasingly warm winters. They didn’t, disappointing me. But when I added more pansies in spring, I discovered that the fall-planted ones out-bloomed their spring-planted cousins (until the weather turned hot, all of them sprawled, and I replaced them with petunias).

As for primroses (pale yellows and pinks in the front yard, crimson and gold under the apple tree), I’ve had mine too long to remember where I got them. Except for moving them to shadier, damper locations, I’ve mostly neglected (if not entirely forgotten) them. Yet each spring their pale flower-stalks rise from the ground-hugging rosettes of crinkly leaves to bloom for weeks. When they multiply, I don’t know, but they do, the crimson ones especially. This spring I’ll thin them once again, and hand on the surplus.

Pansies: Choose From Among 300 Cultivars Pansies or violas (the names are used interchangeably) are compact, short-lived perennials grown as cool-weather annuals or biennials in zones 2 through 11. They come in nearly every color and color combination (many are bi-colored) – with center markings that make a “face.” More than 300 cultivars have been developed. They can survive temperatures in the single digits but don’t like wet feet, preferring loose, rich, slightly acidic soil (pH from 5.4 to 6.2). They flower best in full sun and can self-seed. (This is especially true of Johnny-Jump-Ups, which have smaller blooms, flower heavily and are more heat-resistant than their showier relatives.) Avoid stressed plants (those that are getting leggy and/or are in rampant bloom); instead buy stocky plants with plenty of buds. Except for slugs in wet weather, pansies have few problems. Mulch (pine straw is good) to protect them during prolonged cold spells and to keep their roots cool and moist as the weather warms. —EH