Although the days are shorter, winter months don’t have to be shrouded in darkness. Our florists at Conklyn’s recommend brightening up your days this season with beautifully blooming indoor winter plants! To help you select the best of the season, we’ve put together a list of our top five favorite blooming plants for winter in Alexandria.

1. Amaryllis

Amaryllis isn’t just a winter favorite, it’s a holiday favorite, too! Amaryllis plants bloom with clusters of large flowers in the most popular color of the holiday season, cheerful red! Amaryllis plants aren’t dependent on the temperature or light for blooming. Instead, they’ll bloom about six or eight weeks after their bulbs are planted. This makes it easy to time their growth for a holiday season bloom.

Cousins of the lily, amaryllis plants are also poisonous. It’s a good idea to display these toxic plants out of the reach of household pets and small children.

2. Cyclamen

Cyclamen plants feature delicate blooms with petals shaped shooting stars. They bloom in a variety of shades of pink, red, violet, and white. In deep green with silvery markings, their leaves are pretty, too!

These holiday flowers traditionally bloom throughout fall, winter, and spring in their native homes around the Mediterranean Sea. In household captivity, however, they can be tricky to coax into bloom each year. Though if you know what to do, you shouldn’t have a problem getting to enjoy them for many seasons to come. During the cooler months, place them in a sunny location. Keep soil moist, but never soggy. Cut back wilted blooms. When their leaves wilt in the springtime, the plant goes dormant until the weather begins to cool. Leave your cyclamen plant alone until fall, when you should resume regular watering.

3. Paperwhite Narcissus

The snowy white blooms of paperwhites are simply perfect for winter and the holidays. These fragrant flowers feature delicate petals that burst from the tops of hardy green stalks.

Once yours have sprouted, water them regularly in a soil that drains well and provide them with plenty of indirect sunlight.

4. Poinsettias

We can’t make a list of favorite winter plants without mentioning poinsettias. Although their red and white varieties are most popular, these beauties are also available with yellow, orange, and pink leaves. Many people mistake a poinsettia’s blooms for its vibrantly colored leaves, but these actually called bracts, and the real blooms are the small yellow clusters found at the center of the bracts.

To stay vibrant throughout the season, poinsettias require plenty of indirect sunlight and moist, well-draining soil. Water them regularly, but do not allow your poinsettia to sit in a pool of standing water.

5. Kalanchoe

These brightly blooming succulents are one of our all-time favorite plants for winter. Kalanchoe blooms during the winter in clusters of small flowers in vibrant shades of red, pink, orange, yellow, and white, making them the perfect addition of sunshine during the darker winter months. With bright green leaves, they’re beautiful throughout the year — even when they’re not in bloom.

Since these plants are technically succulents, they do well potted in a well-draining soil formulated for cacti and succulents. These native desert dwellers prefer a sunny location and should only be watered sparingly. With the right conditions, you’ll be able to enjoy your indoor kalanchoe for years to come!

Enjoy Winter in Alexandria in Full Bloom

Alexandria is located in the USDA’s hardiness zone 7, which means plenty of outdoor plants can thrive here throughout the winter, too! We especially love different types of evergreen vines, which are hardy enough to survive our relatively mild winters. You can try planting gardens of winter jasmine, crossvine, and creeping phlox.

For more information about the best winter plants to grow indoors and outdoors to brighten even the dreariest months of the year, we welcome you to contact Conklyn’s for personalized recommendations and assistance.