10 Winter flowers from ground to sky: bulbs, shrubs, trees…

Winter flowers

Winter flowers truly brighten up the cold season with their colorful petals. From tall trees down to humble bulbs, here is our selection of flowers that bloom at the heart of winter.

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Winter flower shrubs

Wintersweet:

  • Variety: Chimonanthus praecox
  • Flowering period: December to March
  • Flower color: yellow cup-shaped flowers appear on leafless branches
  • Exposure: full sun
  • Soil: cool but with perfect drainage
  • Cherry on the top? fragrant blooming that also spread through the house when in a cut flower bouquet

Hamamelis ‘Arnold Promise’ :

  • Strands of yarn-like petals on this 'Arnold promise' hamemelisVariety: Hamamelis intermedia Arnold Promise (witch-hazel)
  • Flowering period: January to February
  • Flower color: bright yellow petals shaped like strands of yarn
  • Exposure: sun, part sun
  • Soil: cool, neutral to acidic.
  • Cherry on the top ? yellow leaves with reddish rims in fall
  • 5 keys for a beautiful winter garden

Perennial winter flowers

Christmas rose or Corsican Hellebore:

  • Variety: Helleborus argutifolius
  • Blooming period: from January to March
  • Flower color: pistachio green drooping cup-shaped flowers
  • Green-colored hellebore, one of the most beautiful winter flowersxposure: part shade, shade
  • Soil: light, soft
  • Cherry on the top? foliage is bright green, which lightens up dark corners of the garden

Cyclamen:

  • Variety: Cyclamen coum ‘Album’
  • Blooming period: February to April
  • Flower color: white flowers with blood-red center, 5 rounded petals
  • Exposure: part shade, shade
  • Soil: well-draining and light
  • Cherry on the top? spreads until it forms a carpet of flowers

Climbing plants that flower in winter

Winter jasmine:

  • Variety: Jasminum nudiflorum
  • Flowering period: December to March
  • Vine blooming in winter: winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorumFlower color: small yellow tube-shaped flowers with round-tipped petals
  • Exposure: full sun
  • Soil: rich
  • Cherry on the top? while still without a single leaf, branches are entirely covered with electric yellow flowers

Clematis ‘Winter Beauty’:

  • Variety: Clematis campanella ‘Winter Beauty’
  • Flowering period: December to February
  • Flower color: white bell-shaped flowers
  • Exposure: sun, part sun
  • Soil: rich, deep and draining well
  • Cherry on the top ? : not very hardy, this clematis is ideal in a greenhouse or against a sunny wall, sheltered from wind

Bulb flowers for the end of winter

Snowdrop:

  • Variety: Galanthus nivalis
  • Flowering period: January to March
  • Snowdrop flowers bloom loyally at the end of winterFlower color: flowers facing down, each one with three large white sepals that cover more smaller petals
  • Exposure: sun, part sun, shade
  • Soil: well-draining
  • Cherry on the top? grows very well in pots

Chionodoxa:

  • Variety: Chionodoxa sardensis
  • Blooming period: February to April
  • Flower color: small blue star-shaped flowers with a white center
  • Exposure: sun, part sun
  • Soil: light, cool, and well-draining
  • Cherry on the top? this perennial bulb forms a ground cover of starry white flowers at the end of winter

Trees that bloom in winter

Mimosa (Acacia dealbata):

  • Variety: Acacia dealbata
  • Flowering period: January to March
  • Flower color: clusters of fragrant yellow pompom flowers
  • Exposure: full sun
  • Soil: well-draining
  • Cherry on the top ? evergreen foliage, elegantly detailed, just as ornamental as the flowers themselves

Goat willow (a type of pussy willow):

  • Variety: Salix caprea
  • Blooming period: February to March
  • Flower color: silvery fuzz covers its buds and tiny yellow flowers cover the catkins
  • Goat willow catkins shining like bright yellow spotsExposure: sun, part sun
  • Soil: ordinary, deep
  • Cherry on the top? melliferous and loaded with nectar, a blessed resource for pollinators in this dire season

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Image credits (edits Gaspard Lorthiois):
CC BY 2.0: houroumono, Josh Egan-Wyer