Oklahoma Spring Gardening Guide
March 11, 2025
Welcome Spring to your new Ideal Home with Style…and Personality
We met with Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods’ landscaping partner, Marcum’s Nursery, to learn about the longstanding relationship between Ideal Homes and Marcum’s and how it provides our homeowners with top-notch landscaping. Read more about our partnership here.
When Ideal homeowners move in, they receive a professionally designed landscape that serves as the foundation of their yard. The Ideal Homes landscaping package includes:
- Two-to-four trees per home, depending on the lot
- Evergreen shrubs for year-round greenery
- Steel edging to keep the lawn from creeping into flower beds
- High-quality, triple-ground cedar mulch
From there, homeowners can personalize their yards and flower beds.
“Ideal Homes trusts the expertise of my team at Marcum’s to create a really nice layout and the plants that you need,” said Candace Benson from Marcum’s Nursery. “It’s sort of like we put the cake in front of the homeowners, and they get to come in with the icing and really make it their own.”
And what better “icing” for a spring garden than flowers?
We visited Marcum’s Nursery and met with Candace to get some pro tips on making your spring flower beds vibrant, beautiful, and resilient.
Bringing in Spring Color: What to Plant
With the foundation set, it's time to bring in spring blooms! Oklahoma’s climate can be challenging, so choosing the right flowers is essential.
Best Annuals for Spring Color
Annuals are a great way to bring immediate bursts of color. These flowers grow quickly, bloom beautifully, and thrive for a single season.
Some of the best-performing annuals for Oklahoma include:
- Zinnias – Bright, low-maintenance, and pollinator-friendly
- Begonias – Hardy and great for adding bold color
- Periwinkles – Delicate and charming
- Geraniums – Classic and long-lasting
Low-Maintenance Perennials for Year-Round Interest
If you prefer long-term beauty without the need to replant each season, consider perennials. These plants come back year after year, often with minimal care.
Some Oklahoma-friendly perennials include:
- Echinacea – Beautiful and drought-tolerant
- Blanket Flower – Vibrant and great for pollinators
- Lavender – Fragrant and versatile
- Bee Balm – Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies
- Salvia – Hardy and colorful
Oklahoma Natives for a Thriving Landscape
Want a low-maintenance, eco-friendly yard? Native plants are naturally suited to Oklahoma’s climate and require less water and care. Some top choices include:
- Agastache – A colorful and drought-resistant pollinator favorite
- Alliums – Unique, globe-shaped flowers
- Penstemon – Delicate and resilient
- Indian Blanket Flower – The state wildflower of Oklahoma!
Best Pollinator Plants for Oklahoma
Pollinators are crucial for plant reproduction, helping flowers produce seeds and fruit. Without them, many of the plants we love wouldn’t survive. By incorporating pollinator-friendly plants, you create a healthier, more vibrant ecosystem in your own backyard.
To attract pollinators, choose plants that offer nectar and pollen throughout the growing season. Here are some of the best options for Oklahoma gardens:
- Milkweed – Essential for monarch butterflies, which lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed plants
- Liatris (Blazing Star) – A favorite of bees and butterflies, with tall, purple spikes that bloom in late summer
- Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnifera) – A drought-resistant wildflower that attracts a variety of pollinators
- Bee Balm (Monarda) – Produces bright red or pink blooms that hummingbirds love
- Salvia (Sage) – Long-blooming and easy to grow, offering nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds
- Echinacea (Purple Coneflower) – Provides pollen in summer and seed heads for birds in fall
When to Plant in Oklahoma?
Find out when to plan in Oklahoma.
Spring into Your Own Ideal Home
At Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods, we think every detail is important, right down to the mulch. We work with our fellow Oklahoma-owned businesses to ensure that every home is thoughtfully designed inside and out.
Ideal Homes has new homes and customizable floorplans available in 21 communities throughout Oklahoma City, including: Blanchard, Choctaw, Deer Creek and Edmond, Guthrie, Harrah, Moore, Mustang and Yukon, Norman, Piedmont, Stillwater, and Washington.
Visit www.idealhomes.com to find your own Ideal Home this spring!
