For home gardeners or anyone else who loves fresh flowers, spring, summer, and fall bring a vast array of beautiful blossoms. And with a little planning and attention paid to your USDA zone and soil conditions, you can plant a garden that provides gorgeous flowers nearly year-round. To enjoy blooms in winter, though, most of…
1. Holiday Cacti (Schlumbergera spp.)
Among these succulents, a small group of closely related species from Brazil, Christmas cactus is the best known. In the wild, they’re epiphytes (growing on trees, rather than in the soil), which gives them a spreading and drooping growth habit. In the U.S., you’ll see versions sold as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter cacti depending on their blooming season.
Care Tips:
• Provide holiday cacti with indirect sunlight and lots of moisture. Restrict light for a few weeks in autumn to trigger blooming. Moisture can be difficult indoors in winter, but misting them periodically or using a humidifier can help.
• These need a bit more water than most succulents but still not much, and they do best in soil that retains minimal moisture.
2. Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)
The bright red “blossoms” of the poinsettia, a holiday season staple, are actually bracts (a kind of modified leaf) supporting the actual blossoms, which are the small round buds you’ll find in the middle. It doesn’t matter what you call them, though; their job is to be beautiful and they do it well. Red varieties are the most traditional, but poinsettias come in shades of white and pink as well.
Care Tips:
• Poinsettias are cold-sensitive tropical plants, so keep them away from drafty doors or windows.
• The leaves and stems secrete a form of latex that can irritate the skin and may be mildly toxic to pets. For this reason, it’s best to wear gardening gloves when handling poinsettias.
3. African Violets (Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia)
African violets are a staple on any list of winter houseplants, and for good reason. Their blossoms are beautiful, they come in a variety of colors, and you can grow cultivars that range from under 3 inches to over a foot in diameter. In short, you can find an African violet for any space in need of a pop of color.
Care Tips:
• Despite their reputation for finickiness, African violets aren’t hard to care for. Pot them in a specialized African violet soil mix, water them from below (to prevent sunscald on the leaves), and give them indirect rather than direct sunlight.
• Well-tended African violets blossom all year and can last for decades, so they’re a very practical indoor option.
4. Cyclamen (Cyclamen spp.)
Cyclamen are native to the Mediterranean region, where they stay dormant during the hot, dry summers and blossom in the relatively cool and moist winters. They’re a strikingly beautiful flower, with butterfly-shaped blossoms in a range of solid and variegated whites, pinks, and purples. My ex and I had one we named Scheherezade, after the endlessly creative storyteller from One Thousand and One Nights, because we were so impressed with the way it kept pushing out blossoms.
Care Tips:
• When blossoming stops and the leaves yellow in spring, your cyclamen is going dormant. Cut back watering to every couple of weeks, then resume normal watering in autumn when new green leaves appear. It will come back year after year.
• Cyclamen are toxic to cats and dogs, so keep them away from your pets (and vice versa).
5. Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis spp.)
Orchids can be a bit intimidating for casual gardeners, in part because some gardeners really, really obsess over them. It’s not surprising — orchids are among the biggest families of flowers, with over 28,000 known species (and counting), and some are extremely rare and hard to grow. Moth orchids are neither. You’ll find them in various colors at any garden center, and as long as you give them indirect light and minimal water, they’ll do just fine. In my house, indirect light is the norm because a porch roof shades a south-facing window, so our orchid was a happy addition to our houseplant collection.
Care Tips:
• Orchids are epiphytes, like holiday cacti, and require minimal soil. They’re sold in tiny pots because that’s all they need; don’t upsize to a larger pot until you can barely see any soil between the roots.
• Moth orchids appreciate humidity (a ledge in the bathroom is a great spot if you have decent light) but need little watering. Many growers suggest putting one ice cube a week in the pot and letting that melt naturally.
6. Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe spp.)
Kalanchoes are a large family of succulents, not unlike sedums, their hardier cousins. I’m able to grow sedums outdoors in my zone 5 garden, but kalanchoes are tropical and strictly an indoor option unless you live in zones 9 through 12. They’re slow growers and need a few years to reach full size. Kalanchoes produce thick clusters of flowers in many different colors, but they need at least six to eight hours of bright, indirect light to blossom properly.
Care Tips:
• Give your kalanchoe a cactus- or succulent-specific soil mix. Unlike many of the plants on this list, they will fare better with regular repotting, so bear that in mind when you’re choosing a spot for your plant.
• Kalanchoe is toxic to pets.
7. Goldfish Plant (Columnea spp., Nemetanthus spp.)
This is a really interesting winter houseplant. If you have kids or grandkids around, they’ll be delighted by the bright orange blossoms, which — yes — look surprisingly like a goldfish. Of the two families of goldfish plants, Columnea species have narrower, more tubular blossoms, while Nemetanthus species are bulgier, like the bill of a pelican when it’s filled with fish. The one in my bedroom is a Columnea. It bloomed lavishly at our last home, but we’ve struggled recently to find a window with enough indirect light. Supplemental lighting and a west-facing window seem to be doing the trick.
Care Tips:
• Goldfish plants need lots of indirect light to flourish, up to 10 hours a day. If you’re not getting enough natural light, provide supplemental lighting.
• Prune stem tips in the spring to encourage vigorous new growth and control the plant’s shape. The cuttings can be propagated and then replanted into the original pot for an extra-bushy hanging plant, or used to start new pots.
8. Oxalis (Oxalis spp.)
A number of Oxalis species are grown as houseplants. The one I have is Oxalis triangularis, often sold in March as a “shamrock” to capitalize on St. Patrick’s Day. They’re interesting plants, with triangular, cloverlike leaves that close up at night and open during the day. Blossoms can be white, pink, or purple, and the leaves can be green, purple, or variegated. This creates some visual appeal even when the plant isn’t blooming.
Care Tips:
• Tropical species of oxalis need more light than temperate species, which favor indirect light. Tropical varieties will cope happily with direct sunlight.
• Like some of the other winter houseplants on this list, oxalises benefit from humidity but fare better with minimal watering and soil that doesn’t retain moisture.
9. Cape Primrose (Streptocarpus spp.)
Cape primrose is a close cousin of the aforementioned African violet. Its blossoms look more like those of primrose or primula, hence the name, and you can find them in some glorious reds as well as the usual purples, pinks, and whites that you see with African violets. Care is broadly similar to that for African violets, but the Cape primrose is hardier and more forgiving for novices.
Care Tips:
• Streptocarpus likes lots of bright, indirect light and humidity, and favors rich but well-drained soil.
• Propagation is easy through leaf cuttings.
10. Begonias (Begonia spp.)
There aren’t nearly as many begonia species as orchids, but it’s still a large family with more than 2,000 species and any number of hybrids and distinctive cultivars. The TL;DR? There’s almost certain to be a variety of begonia you’ll love. Wax begonias and rex begonias are the most common choices for use as a houseplant. Rex begonias and dragon wing begonias have bold, dramatic foliage that adds to their appeal.
Care Tips:
• Begonias favor rich but well-drained soil and need plenty of bright, indirect light.
• Begonias flourish in humid conditions, but don’t overwater them. They’re prone to root rot if the soil stays too wet.
11. Jasmine (Jasminum spp.)
Pretty blossoms in winter are a wonderfully cheering thing, and they’ll boost your mood even more if they smell beautiful as well. Cultivars of the Jasminum polyanthus species naturally bloom in late winter and early spring. Most other varieties typically flower in summer, but in late winter and early fall, you’ll find stores selling potted jasmine plants that have been primed to bloom through the cold months. If you buy one, you can train it to do the same again next year by limiting water from late summer through autumn and keeping the plant in a cool room where it can have absolute darkness at night (a closet works in a pinch).
Care Tips:
• Jasmine grows quickly, so prune it after flowering for shape and to stimulate new growth.
• Jasmine doesn’t tolerate drafts well, but benefits from growing in a well-ventilated area with lots of indirect light.
12. Bromeliads (Guzmania spp., Neoregelia spp., Vriesea spp., and others)
The bromeliad you’re most familiar with is probably the pineapple, and you can indeed grow one at home if you wish. Ornamental bromeliads don’t fruit, but many of them — notably the Guzmania, Neoregelia, and Vriesea species — make outstanding houseplants whose colorful bracts bring an exotic, tropical flair to your rooms. They’re epiphytes, like holiday cacti, and need minimal watering but some humidity. (Resting their pots on a shallow tray filled with pebbles and water should provide adequate moisture.)
Care Tips:
• Bromeliads die after they flower, but a cluster of “pups” (baby bromeliads) will spring up around your original plant. Those can be separated once they’re about one-third the size of the parent plant and repotted. Alternatively, you can just leave them in the original pot to grow as a cluster.
• As with poinsettias, the actual blossoms on a bromeliad are inconspicuous. It’s the supporting bracts that bring the color and drama.
