Quick answer: 15 native Utah plants have a recorded bloom range that includes March.
15 species
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · 34 states
- Brittlebush Encelia farinosa · 4 states
- Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis · 37 states
- Creosote bush Larrea tridentata · 6 states
- Desert sand verbena Abronia villosa · 4 states
- Eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides · 42 states
- Fremont cottonwood Populus fremontii · 7 states
- Gambel oak Quercus gambelii · 8 states
- Gray alder Alnus incana · 26 states
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · 39 states
- Seep monkeyflower Erythranthe guttata · 15 states
- Tidy tips Layia platyglossa · 3 states
- Western redbud Cercis occidentalis · 4 states
- Winecup Callirhoe involucrata · 16 states
- Winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata · 12 states
March in an Utah native garden
March is a quieter month in Utah: 15 of the state's 104 native plants flower in March, compared with 79 at the June peak. That makes these plants valuable for keeping color, and food for pollinators, going outside the main season.
10 start blooming in March, including Bearberry, Canada wild rye and Creosote bush.
13 of them grow in full or partial sun and 6 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like Seep monkeyflower and Winterfat to trees such as Bearberry and Eastern cottonwood. For wildlife, 12 support pollinators, 9 provide food or cover for birds and 6 are caterpillar host plants.
9 of the 15 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species.
Good places to start
Verified wild-species listings that take sun and are widely native, so they are forgiving first plants.
- Eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Feb-Apr
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis · Sun, Part Shade · blooms Mar-Jun