Of the true wild trees…
Serviceberry is normally the first to bloom (white) here… followed by redbud (red/pink)… then dogwood (white).
This year serviceberry and red buds started blooming about the same time. I have seen years when serviceberry bloomed a good week before redbuds.
Dogwoods always start blooming a week or so after redbuds.
Wild american plums… which i have only seen a few of around here… bloom early and white.
All my earliest blooms here are purple, too. Anemone blanda probably first of all.
Which raises the question whether the earliest blooms really are yellow, or just some places. Maybe it’s partly a matter of latitude?
My asian plum types and apricot have more bud swell now than my serviceberry. The asian plums like my bubblegum, pluerry and pluot are wanting to push leaf in March and our last frost is not until May.
I think it’s just safe to bundle all three (white, yellow, purple) of those colors together as the most bright and showy to pollinators. Early in the season when warm weather isn’t a given they can’t rely on scents so they probably all skew to be very visually based strategies
My periwinkles bloom before forsythia and they are next to each other.
Are the periwinkles close to the ground? I’m thinking they may benefit from retained heat.
Yes, they are ground cover. You have a good point.
Snowdrops for us in SE PA–in January. The yellows follow, but white is first.