Creeping vinca, Flowering quince, Pansy, Greigli tulip, Hyacinth, Scilla "Spring Beauty," Forsythia

April showers bring May flowers, but Thursday was the first day of spring, and that's when gardeners should have started thinking about spring flowers.

The spring flower season is generally the last frost of winter until the first frost of fall, or mid-April until mid-October. It's best not to plant before the last frost because you'll probably lose your flowers.

"Everybody wants to be the first with a tomato on the block," said Harry Bertrand, horticulture instructor at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School. "It's no use trying to get a head start on Mother Nature, because you usually end up back to ground zero and have to start over anyway."

The two main keys to having pretty, healthy flowers are good soil preparation and proper amounts of sunlight. Also important is making sure the soil type matches the flowers that are planted in it.

"Preparing the soil allows plants to do their best," Bertrand said. "For example, you have to make sure plants like azaleas are in more acidic soil because they do better that way. Doing these things allows plants to thrive and do much better than simply placing them in a hole."

Flower selection is also important for gardeners wanting a pretty flower bed. Bertrand said some gardeners choose the wrong plants for the climate in this region, and their flowers don't do well as a result.

"We are at a very difficult transition zone in our area for growing plants," he said. "It can be a very frustrating area to try and grow flowers."

Bertrand said gardeners should choose hearty flowers that do well in the area, like daffodils, coleus, begonias, dusty miller, and alysum. Vinca (periwinkle), geraniums, marigolds, petunias and salvia also do well in Southeast Missouri.

Flower and plant maintenance are also important. Bertrand said yellow leaves and dying blooms often mean that the plant is growing, not dying. When these signs are seen, planters should clean off the old leaves and blooms to make room for new ones.

"It's like changing the oil in a car," Bertrand said. "Keeping up with the maintenance of plants allows them to stay around longer, just like keeping up with the maintenance of a car will keep it in better shape longer."