One of my favorite, early-blooming perennials is the lupine. They are very easy to grow and come in colors like yellow, blue, purple and pink. They really look stunning in the garden when they're in bloom, and they make a bold statement when they're planted in groups of three or five. Don't you just love these blue ones?
The plants only live a few years but you can either let them self-sow or just keep restarting some to keep them going in your garden. I prefer to do the latter because if I deadhead the spent flower spikes, the plants will often have enough energy to bloom some more rather than focusing their energy on developing the seeds in the spent flower heads.
