The first meadow flowers poke their heads out of the ground very early, usually when snow covers the ground. Some of the most beautiful species will be presented here.
Which meadow plants bloom in spring?
The beautiful meadow plants in spring include the March cup, the chess flower, cowslips, gentians and violets. They show their blooms as early as March and give the landscape a colorful diversity.
Märzenbecher
The Märzenbecher produces its flowers from the onion that overwinters in the ground from mid-March onwards. This well-known early bloomer thrives wild, especially in moist deciduous forests and wet meadows. Well-known wild occurrences can be found in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and in the Leipzig floodplain forest. The Märzenbecher is sometimes also called the spring knot flower.
Chess Flower
The endangered chess flower is a member of the lily family. All lilies have underground storage organs, usually bulbs, with which they survive the winter and sprout in early spring. The chess flower occurs mainly in moist river and moorland meadows. Its bell-shaped, purple-red flowers, which have a white checkerboard pattern on the inside, make it impossible to confuse with any other species.
Primroses
The native cowslips are particularly threatened by digging and picking and are therefore protected. The cowslip, also known as odorless cowslip or skyscraper, grows primarily in slightly damp deciduous forests and meadows. Its bright yellow flowers open from late March to May. The strong yolk-yellow flowers of the cowslip, also known as fragrant cowslip, can only be found from the end of April to June. The plant thrives in dry and warmer locations, meadows, semi-dry meadows and sparse deciduous forests.
Gentians
There are around ten different species of gentians in Germany. Most of them have become very rare and threatened with extinction due to the drainage of moors and the fertilization of meadows. This also applies to the five to 20 centimeter high spring gentian, which opens its solitary sky-blue flowers in March / April. In the cooler climate of the Ice Age, it populated large parts of Europe and Asia. Today the spring gentian grows primarily in mountainous areas. There are only very few sites left, for example in the cold fens of Thuringia.
Violets
There are several common types of violets in Germany, all of which have blue-violet flowers. However, it is extremely rare for us to find two other species of violets that are protected. The two-flowered violet is easily recognized by the yellow color of its flowers. It always has two flowers on one stem. It inhabits moist locations in many mountains. Even rarer is the endangered bog violet, which is distinguished from the other purple-flowering species by its drooping central petals, which do not cover the upper petals of the flower.
Tips & Tricks
Many of the wild species presented here may not be picked or dug up from their locations. However, you can promote their spread by legally purchasing seeds or bulbs of these early bloomers from retailers.