Late April, northwest New Jersey. New growth on Japanese maple ‘Butterflies’; tulip ‘Orange Emperor’; double-flowered quince Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Cameo’; tulip ‘Prinses Irene’; reddish new growth on Spiraea x bumalda ‘Magic Carpet’; Geum rivale bud.

Allen Haskell, the late landscape designer, once said, “Anyone can do spring.” He was dismissing proud homeowners’ achievements with a flippant remark. I know what he meant. You can drive around old neighborhoods in March, April, or May depending on where you live, and see the riotous colors of evergreen Kurume azaleas—hot orange, magenta, and violet. And how about those spring-flowering bulbs that come with the blossom already formed and stored in the center of their onion-like layers. What do you have to do to get color from these plants? Stick ’em in the ground and forget ’em.

Nature’s on the gardener’s side.

The alpine plant authority Geoffrey Charlesworth wrote something nicer: “Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer.”

Anyone can do spring, but not everyone takes advantage of nature’s more subtle gifts. Salix chaenomeloides is a pussy willow that begins its display of silvery catkins every February in my Zone 6 garden—more than a month before S. caprea, the variety usually seen in public and private gardens, or sold as cut branches. The large shrub also bears handsome matte gray-green leaves.

There are even more surprises that appear weeks before the flaming azaleas. For instance, plants’ newly emerging leaves and shoots—“pubescent growth.” The flower buds on the wild red maple (Acer rubrum) trees swell, and the highway near my New Jersey garden appears as if a pale crimson fog has settled in the hollows between the hills.

The gold-leaved Spiraea japonica varieties have amber new growth that lasts for months before its leaves attain their mature chartreuse color. I’ve planted the early tulip ‘Orange Emperor’ and later ‘Prinses Irene’ next to S. ‘Magic Carpet’ for a color echo. The flowering quince variety ‘Cameo’ blossoms in the background to continue the color scheme.

Baptisia species, herbaceous perennial members of the pea family, look like asparagus when they begin to emerge. The shoots on the cultivar ‘Purple Smoke’ are nearly black. Beneath these perennials, small, early “minor bulbs” bloom, including the pale pink glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii ‘Pink Giant’), white Puschkinia scilloides ‘Alba’, and an understated baby pink grape hyacinth (Muscari ‘Pink Sunrise’).

Sure, yellow daffodils and red tulips and, forgive me, those garish azaleas pack a punch. Yet, there are so many other, more restrained plants that personalize the vernal performance. By selecting the most interesting plants and putting them together thoughtfully and beautifully, you can be the conductor of your own spring symphony.

Early April, central New Jersey: Scilla bifolia ‘Rosea’; Chinodoxa forbesii ‘Pink Giant’; Stachyurus praecox ‘Rubriflora’; Magnolia stellata; Muscari ‘Pink Sunrise’; Puschkinia scilloides ‘Alba’.