Once Christmas and New Year are over, the sooner spring gets here, the better. Get 2012 off to a flying start, and renew your home with some lovely spring flowers in bright colours

The frost and cold of January awakens spring feelings inside, and right now there is a huge variety of colourful plants that can brighten up your home – in fact, you can create spring in every room, with different harbingers of the season.

Colourful buttercups
One of the most colourful of all the flowers of early spring is the buttercup, the colour of which ranges from snow-white and sunny yellow to deep red. You get the best out of buttercups by placing them in a cool place, and they will thrive on a patio, porch, or the like, where you can arrange them in groups in a pot, or place them individually.

If you would like buttercups to provide a tender greeting at the front door, this is also possible. You just have to remember to protect the plants if there is a sudden onset of severe frost. With the right location and care, buttercups can continue to delight you until the "real" spring arrives.

Spice up your home with Primula
Primula is another popular and charming harbinger of spring which can help to freshen up your winter-weary home. One of the most familiar types is the large-flowered primrose, Primula vulgaris, which comes in a myriad of beautiful bright colours, with a flower form that can help to give your home a different, new and fresh look.

A scent of spring
Many of the plants of early spring are also fragrant. The cooler the spot where Primula is located, for example, the more fragrant are its flowers. While the intense scent of jasmine is irresistible, bulbous plants such as hyacinth and paperwhite also spread a pleasant scent in the rooms, and can be planted out when the danger of frost is gone.

So you need not sigh too deeply for spring, because in fact it doesn’t take much to create a spring atmosphere in your home right now.