Early Spring Color

I would like to add some color earlier in the season before the daffodils and tulips bloom. Crocus are nice, any other ideas for early bloomers? Also, when is the best time to plant them so that I will enjoy them early next spring?

Early spring color provides needed color and the promise of spring we all need. Winter aconite’s yellow flowers and snowdrops white blooms are among the first flowers to emerge in spring. Siberian squills’ blue flowers combine nicely with early daffodils. Include some glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa) and Puschkinias for additional early bloom. Plant these and other spring flowering bulbs in fall. Consider including some early blooming perennials like hellebores, pasque flower, creeping phlox, candytuft (Iberis) and rock cress (Arabis). A walk through your local botanical garden may reveal some other unexpected early spring bloomers.