Quick answer: 18 native Alaska plants have a recorded bloom range that includes April.
18 species
- Balsam poplar Populus balsamifera · 8 states
- Beach strawberry Fragaria chiloensis · 1 states
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · 34 states
- Broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia · 39 states
- Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis · 37 states
- Common juniper Juniperus communis · 39 states
- Engelmann spruce Picea engelmannii · 1 states
- Feathery false Solomon's seal Maianthemum racemosum · 45 states
- Marsh marigold Caltha palustris · 28 states
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · 39 states
- Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis · 1 states
- Saskatoon serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia · 14 states
- Seep monkeyflower Erythranthe guttata · 15 states
- Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis · 1 states
- Water birch Betula occidentalis · 1 states
- Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla · 1 states
- Western redcedar Thuja plicata · 1 states
- Winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata · 12 states
April in an Alaska native garden
April is one of Alaska's busiest bloom months, with 18 of the state's 40 native plants flowering (the peak is June).
8 start blooming in April, including Balsam poplar, Beach strawberry and Broadleaf cattail.
15 of them grow in full or partial sun and 9 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like Marsh marigold and Seep monkeyflower to trees such as Balsam poplar and Bearberry. For wildlife, 9 support pollinators, 13 provide food or cover for birds and 5 are caterpillar host plants.
11 of the 18 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species. Be careful buying Engelmann spruce: common listings for it are often a bred variety or a different species.
Good places to start
Verified wild-species listings that take sun and are widely native, so they are forgiving first plants.
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis · Sun, Part Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun