This time of year the earth bursts back to life with Easter’s spring flowers. Flowers are a big part of this holiday that heralds spring and symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings. There are many beautiful flowers traditionally associated with Easter, each with their own unique meanings. Here are Olney’s top picks.
Easter Lily
The Easter lily is the obvious choice to top our list since it’s named for the holiday. Easter lilies are white with trumpet-shaped flowers. Traditionally, they are associated with purity and resurrection. This comes from Christian legend, which says that after Jesus’ death and resurrection, these flowers were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed the night before the crucifixion. Learn how to plant your Easter lily outdoors here.
Easter brings cascades of spring flowers to wake up the earth from the cold blanket of winter
Easter cacti
Easter cacti are becoming very popular and their colorful blooms — which can be white, orange, red, pink or purple — arrive in spring, just in time for Easter. The Easter cactus is similar, but not to be confused with the Thanksgiving cactus or the Christmas cactus (which are also succulents). Not only does the name associate them with Easter, but they’re also a symbol of rebirth, too.
Daffoils
Often the first flowers you see blooming in early spring. They’re how gardeners know that a new gardening season has come, and because they bloom close to Easter, they’ve become a holiday symbol, too. As an early spring bloomer, daffodils represent the arrival of new life. In England, they’re known as “Lent lilies” because they’ve long been associated with Lent.
Crocus
The crocus is another early spring bloom, characteristic for its delicate purple and gold flowers that you’ll sometimes see poking up through the last of the snow. These are an all-time Easter favorite, perfect for joyous celebrations since they symbolize youth and happiness.
Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is.
Jessica Harrelson
Hyacinth
As with many Easter flowers, hyacinth blooms early—and in shades of purple, pink and white. These annual flowers traditionally symbolize constancy and sincerity. Learn how to get your hyacinth to bloom again!
Tulips
Spring flowers like tulips carry a meaning of rebirth since they’re among the first flowers to emerge from winter dormancy. They also represent love, belief and forgiveness and—because they’re so colorful and somewhat egg shaped—people sometimes associate them with Easter eggs.
Hellebore
Hellebore is perhaps the earliest bloomer on the list, emerging in the later parts of winter and early spring. Because of that, this perennial goes by several names: winter rose, Christmas rose, and Lenten rose. It’s associated with Lent, in particular, because in many areas, it emerges during this season, and as with many early spring flowers, it represents rebirth.
Hydrangeas
These are another popular spring flower, and they come in colors ranging from white to pink to blue. They’re often grown as landscape shrubs, producing beautiful snowballs of flowers, and depending on the local climate, in some areas, they’re blooming at Easter. Elsewhere, they’re available as cut flowers for the Easter season. As an Easter gift, hydrangeas represent gratitude and understanding.
Azaleas
Azaleas are among the earliest spring blooming shrubs — most of the rest of the early spring bloomers are bulbs. They come in all sorts of colors, and the flowers are quite popular during Easter as a symbol of temperance, moderation and love.
Because Easter happens around the same time gardens everywhere are beginning to bloom, there are many more types of flowers that have associations with this holiday. The ones we’ve listed above are a selection of the most popular traditional favorites. You’ll find them not only in springtime landscapes, but in holiday gifts and as Easter dinner centerpieces, too.
Happy Easter!