Happy Monday GPODers!
We had a wonderful little excursion around the world last week, but the amazing “On the Road” submissions haven’t stopped, so we are starting this week with a few more outstanding garden destinations and the gorgeous plants that our contributors saw on their recent visits. Today we’re heading to Chicago Botanic Garden with Cindy Strickland, who has shared bright blooms from her garden in the windy city (Cindy’s Top Summer Blooms Northwest Chicago) as well as from some of the fascinating gardens she has travelled to over the years (Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Late May, Sydney, Australia, and Smallhythe Place). With this world-renowned garden institution in her backyard, she was able to plan a visit that coincided with the first flowers of the year.
Hello, Cindy in Chicago here. Just wanted to share a few early bloomers I found at Chicago Botanic Garden on March 8, 2026. I was mainly looking for the white and pendulous galanthus—also known as snowdrops. I enjoyed noting the details of the different markings on the flowers. A nodding flower that looks similar to galanthus is summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum, Zones 4–8), which blooms later than galanthus but is also in the Amaryllis family.
‘Flore Pleno’ (G. nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’, Zones 3–7) is a “double” snowdrop—the inner perianth segments are usually marked with green.
Giant snowdrop (G. elwesii, Zones 4–7) is a larger a variety described as a good one for naturalizing and, like other galanthus, it likes to grow in well drained soil under deciduous trees that will provide some shade after blooming.
‘Sam Arnott’ (G. nivalis ‘Sam Arnott’, Zones 3–7) is a noticeably bigger variety with larger flowers.
‘Viridi-Apice’ (G. nivalis ‘Viridi-apice’, Zones 3–7) also known as the green-tip snowdrop is the only cultivar with a green spot near the tips of the outer whorl of tepals.
Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis, Zones 3–7) is also an early bloomer.
Winter aconite in a wide shot. Like galanthus, winter aconite prefers well-draining soil with organic material, medium moisture, and full sun to part shade.
‘Sunshine’ reticulated iris (Iris reticulata ‘Sunshine’, Zones 3–7)—according to the Chicago Botanic Garden website, this cultivar is smaller than most reticulated iris and is a modern cross between the blue sophenensis iris (I. sophenensis, Zones 4–8) and the yellow Danford iris (I. danfordiae, Zones 5–9).
Alexandrina saucer magnolia (Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Alexandrina’, Zones 5–9) is the large tree in the foreground with early flowers blooming below.
Thank you so much for sharing these early season stars with us, Cindy! It might feel like any kind of color is a blessing this time of year, but botanical gardens are a great place to be reminded that we have more plant options than we sometimes imagine.
Do you have any late winter and early spring blooms emerging from your garden yet? It is time to chase those winter blues away and embrace even the smallest pops of color that we see growing in our landscapes. Please help GPOD celebrate the start of spring by sharing your garden photos with 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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