Five fabulous winter-blooming flowers

Even in winter, nature finds ways to gift us with joy and magic, with flowers that are full of warmth and color.

Both in the house and in the garden, here are a few flowers to admire in winter for their blooming…

Read also:

• Indoor plants in winter
• Short-lived sparks of color to warm up the winter air
• What to plant in garden boxes in Winter

Poinsettia

With its lush green leaves, bright red or creamy-white bracts, the Christmas star definitely prepares the home for the warm season of love and giving!

Poinsettia isn’t only spectacular, it is resilient and easy to care for. Simply place it in the right spot and monitor its need for water, and it will brighten up your indoors for a long time.

Phalenopsis orchid

One of the easiest house flowers, the orchid thrives all year long. Interestingly, winter is when it has the most fans, since blooms emerge just as all the other plants go dormant!

To make sure it blooms again and again so you can marvel at its towering flower scapes, place it near a window but not in direct sunlight. Every time roots seem dry, dunk the whole pot in a bucket of room-temperature water for a few minutes.

You might need to add fertilizer if you feel the blooming isn’t as lush as it once was.

Hellebore

Christmas rose is the other name it goes by: hellebore is a perennial that blooms from December to April depending on the variety, and it brightens up any spot of the garden with its pink, green-white, purple flower, be they light or dark-colored.

Both hardy and elegant, it loves both sun and shade, and is satisfied with heavy well-draining soil that’s rich. pH is best when neutral or basic. A must-have in the garden!

Also excellent for composing garden boxes, but make note to use soil mix that’s prepared for perennials.

Winter heather

In the ground or in winter garden boxes on the deck, balcony or windowsill, winter heather turns into a miniature bush of tiny white, pink or red flowers. This blooming lasts two full months, from end of December to end of February.

No care at all except for watering (not too much of it, either), and repotting in spring with well-draining soil mix.

This resilient plant grows anywhere, even in clay soil if you add in a little sand.

Cyclamen coum

Select a coum cyclamen if you want blooming from November to March. In every region, it will produce white, purple, pink or red flowers. It does great in the ground, and in pots and containers, too.

Cyclamen loves cool settings, in the shade or part shade. This particular variety is hardy, but other cyclamen species are vulnerable to freezing.

Those that might freeze can be transferred indoors, as long as the temperature isn’t any warmer than 60-65°F (15-18°C). And give the mini-cyclamen a try, too!

Claire Lelong-Lehoang