A Staple in the kitchen, Allium cepa (Onions) are biennial vegetables grown for their sweet to pungent bulbs and greens. Native to Asia, Onions have been cultivated for 5000 years and provide fantastic flavor to any meal. Rich in nutrients, Onions have been valued for their medicinal qualities by many cultures worldwide, including the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disorders. 

Cultivated for several thousand years, Allium sativum (Garlic) is a perennial vegetable grown as an annual herb. Native to the Mediterranean area, it was known in all early civilized cultures, including the Babylonians, Egyptians, Romans, and Chinese. Garlic is related to onion, leeks, and chives. It produces aromatic, strongly flavored, edible bulbs which typically consist of 10 to 20 teardrop-shaped cloves (bulblets) enclosed in a white, inedible, parchment-like skin. In late spring, thin, long, green shoots resembling grass or wild onions sprout out of the ground. Edible, they are tender and delicious when young and add a delicate garlic flavor to salads, soups, and sauces.

Cultivated for its culinary uses and ornamental garden appeal, Allium schoenoprasum (Chives) is a small bulbous perennial forming a dense clump of thin, narrowly cylindrical, grass-like, dark green leaves. Blooming in late spring to early summer, attractive, pale lavender, rounded umbels are borne on erect stems atop the foliage. Both flowers and leaves are edible. The flowers are perfect in salads, while the leaves are widely used to add mild onion flavor to sauces, stews, mashed vegetables, fish, poultry, egg dishes, and salads. Since their delicate flavor is easily destroyed by heat, add chives during the last few minutes of cooking time, or scatter them on a finished dish to garnish.

Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the Pulpit) is a charming tuberous perennial boasting some of the most curious flowers in the plant kingdom. The blossoms consist of a deep purple to green spathe (hood), adorned with a few purple stripes, that conceals a spadix (jack) covered with tiny green to purple flowers. They bloom for a couple of weeks from mid to late-spring, although the spadix and spathe remain attractive for a longer period of time. This spring woodland wildflower bears two large, glossy leaves, divided into three leaflets, which rise at the top of their own stems. Native to eastern North America, Arisaema triphyllum is noted for its ability to change gender. Starting out bearing male flowers only on the spadix, the plant spontaneously changes to female the next year and vice versa. Clustered on the spadix, smooth, shiny green berries ripen in mid to late summer and turn a bright red color, attracting birds and mammals, before the plants go dormant. A most satisfying plant for the woodland garden, it is easy to grow, requires very little care and produces new tubers in abundance. The entire plant contains crystals of calcium oxalate and is poisonous.

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is a vigorous perennial widely used for culinary purposes and regarded as one of the best mints for flavor.

Noted for its deep bronze foliage and showy flower spikes, Ricinus communis 'Carmencita' (Caster Oil plant) is a fast-growing, tender shrub that adds interest and drama to the sunny garden. This new variety features large, shiny, dark bronze-red, palmately lobed leaves, resembling maple leaves. In mid to late summer, clusters of bright red female flowers give way to eye-catching, scarlet, spiny seed pods. Grown as an annual in temperate climates, this Castor Oil plant will grow much taller in warm winter areas. All parts of this plant are toxic if eaten, and the foliage may affect skin allergies, so take care with children and pets.

One of the earliest spring bloomers, Scilla siberica is a bulbous perennial boasting intense blue, bell-shaped, nodding flowers (2-5 per stem) in early to mid-spring. Each bulb produces 3 to 4 flower stems above a grassy foliage of narrow strap-shaped leaves. Easy to grow, this is one of the most winter hardy of the scillas and can be found in hardiness zone 2. A great naturalizer, it multiplies and comes back year after year, turning the landscape into a sea of blue. Looks best when planted in large drifts. Grows up to 3-6 in. tall and wide (7-15 cm). Hardiness Zones: 2-8

Thymus vulgaris (Common Thyme) is a dwarf, aromatic shrub primarily grown as a culinary herb in herb gardens. It forms a low cushion of branching, woody stems clothed with small, linear to ovate, dark gray-green leaves. The leaves are highly aromatic and are frequently used fresh or dried as a seasoning in a variety of culinary applications including soups, sauces, vegetables, meat, and fish dishes. Terminal spikes of small, whorled, white, or pink flowers appear at the stem tips in late spring to early summer. Rich in nectar, they attract butterflies and bees. Evergreen in mild winters.

Alliums are plants of exquisite beauty that deserve a place in perennial gardens. Easy to grow and undemanding, these very ornamental bulbs distinguish themselves by their great diversity in color, inflorescence, flowering height and bloom times. Many species bloom in early summer - just after the spring-flowering period and just before the exuberant full bloom of summer. 

Showiest members of the genus 'Iris', Bearded Irises should have a place in any garden. While there are thousands of cultivars, all bear flowers with 6 petals: 3 upright petals (standards) and 3 dropping petals (falls) displaying a fuzzy line or beard in their center, guiding insects towards the pollen. Flowers come in an array of gorgeous colors in the spring with some cultivars re-blooming in the summer and fall. As an added bonus, many re-blooming irises are fragrant.

Native to North America, Camassias (Camas) are bulbous perennials with long racemes of up to 100 star-shaped flowers, adorned with six slender loose petals, a green center and bright yellow stamens. The flowers vary in color from pale lilac or white to deep purple or blue-violet. Borne on stout, willowy stems, they open sequentially from bottom to top for a long-lasting display. Blooming in late spring to early summer, these spring-flowering bulbs rise atop a foliage clump of linear green leaves. A striking feature in the garden, Camassias add something different to the borders at a time when the summer perennials have not yet hit their stride. Left undisturbed, they are vigorous growers and will increase freely in damp soil.

A member of the Lily family, Erythronium (Dog Tooth Violet) are charming bulbous perennials grown for their nodding, lily-shaped flowers adorned with gracefully reflexed petals in spring. Equally attractive is their foliage of elliptic leaves, often copiously marbled with purple-bronze.

Native to Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, Fritillaria imperialis grows up to 40-44 inches tall (100-110 cm) in a beautiful display of orange, yellow or red pendant, bell-shaped flowers topped by a crown of small leaves. This striking ensemble rises high at the end of an upright stem bearing lance-shaped, glossy leaves. Blooming occurs in mid to late spring and lasts for 2-3 weeks. Specimens that receive what they need often continue to flower year after year in the same location. Great for borders and perennial beds. Hardiness Zones: 5 - 8

There are 20 different Snowdrop species and several hundreds of hybrids. Yes, several hundreds (!). The craze known as Galanthophilia has swept through the ranks of gardening enthusiasts in the past few years. While all snowdrops look the same to the uninitiated - dainty, nodding white flowers, with a dab of green, held on a thin arching stalk at the end of a thicker stem - they reveal their differences when you take a closer look.

Adding fabulous color and form to the early summer border, hardy perennial salvias are mostly represented by the hybrids of Salvia x sylvestris (Woodland Sage) and Salvia nemorosa. With their vertical, densely packed flower spikes, ranging from rich indigo-blue to violet to purple, these hardy salvias contribute to creating incredibly beautiful and contrasting combinations with other perennials and ornamental grasses. Butterflies and hummingbirds love them as they enjoy sipping the nectar from their tightly bunched whorls of flowers.

There are 20 Hellebore species. Most are native to the mountainous regions of Europe, especially the Balkan region of the former Yugoslavia, south along the eastern Adriatic to Greece and Turkey. Many of the species have been interbred, producing countless hybrid Hellebores in a rich array of colors and forms.

Rich and heavily fragrant, hyacinths are spring-flowering bulbs that produce gorgeous red, pink, orange, salmon, yellow, purple, white or blue spike-like flowers that mostly cover their stem with a multitude of florets or bells. Floating atop erect, lance-shaped bright green leaves, these beauties bloom once each year in early to mid spring and last about 2 weeks, depending on the weather. 

Most Muscari species are so extremely winter hardy and easy to grow that no garden should be without them. They naturalize extremely easily and will come back year after year and multiply. They come in different shades of blue, in white and even pink. An additional benefit is that all Muscari have a lovely fragrance. The more you plant, the more fragrance you get!

The most popular companion of the tulip, daffodils are spring flowering bulbs mostly known as yellow trumpet-shaped flowers. However, daffodils (Narcissus) offer a wider range of flower shapes and colors that are absolutely fabulous when combined with other spring bulbs. Long-lived, they naturalize and multiply year after year. Versatile, they are perfect for beds and borders, rock gardens, containers, or window boxes. They also make gardening easy. Once planted, there is nothing left to do: these bulbs can stay right where they are and produce flowers year after year. As an added, most are fragrant and all are deer and rodent-resistant.