Are there any winter blooming plants?
One late fall/early winter weekend, I was walking around the garden center at our Lowe’s Home Improvement store, when I overheard a conversation between a customer and the garden center employee. The customer asked about flowers and the employee, who was the one in charge of the plants at this store, told her that nothing bloomed in the winter.
I hated to butt in on a conversation and so I waited until I saw the same customer alone later and told her that the clerk was wrong. Here in the south anyway, there ARE plants that bloom in the winter!
Pansies:
A lot of people plant pansies in the spring, but I find that they perform better when planted in the fall. Our winters are mild enough that they will bloom all winter and will still be blooming in the spring. You can choose from purple, yellow, white, maroon, and many colors in between.
Pansies are short plants that are great for planting underneath taller plants. They are only about 4-6 inches tall and are best planted in mass for an amazing show of color . They are also great in pots.
Winter Jasmine:
Winter Jasmine is a sprawling shrub that can grow rather large, anywhere from 4-15 feet. Usually in January, small yellow blooms will appear along the spindly stems. Pruning will produce thicker blooms which are beautiful hanging over a wall or a fence.
I love growing jasmines for their well known sweet scent, but this winter jasmine has no scent at all!
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Camellias:
Camellias are a large shrub and can grow into a small tree. This one is about 6 feet tall and has the most amazing red flowers I’ve ever seen.
Camellias also come in white, and pink. I have one of each but both the pink and white ones are tiny still.
This pink one is one that I planted at my old house many years ago.
Lenten Roses:
I have a friend who grows these and has been bragging on how well they perform, so I have borrowed a couple of her photos to show you. She has several colors which make a beautiful February display. Also known as Christmas Rose and Winter Rose, these are on my “to purchase” list!
Lenten Roses grow to be about 12 inches tall and should be planted in part shade to part sun. There are a wide variety of colors and one I really like is the unusual green flower!
So you CAN have flowers in the winter!
If it’s still snowing where YOU are, you might be interested in how to Enjoy Bulbs before Spring.
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You’re so lucky to have flowers that bloom in the winter! Here in New England, that isn’t really a thing, although certain types of witch hazel bloom in very early spring (right around now). My Lenten rose also blooms fairly early, although usually in March here. Pansies would never make it through the winter, although they are the first flowers on the shelves at the garden centers, probably in about 3 weeks. I love to plant them in pots and put them on my front porch where I can see them every time I enter or leave the house, and the porch protects them just a bit if we get crazy heavy snows (which can certainly happen for another month to 6 weeks). I’m jealous of your Camellias, I’m pretty sure we can’t grow them here, but they’re gorgeous!
I do love our growing season, but if it makes you feel better our summers are nearly unbearable! haha We have just enough cold that I can’t grow tropicals. I so want to grow an olive tree and a lime tree and some others. Maybe one day I’ll get me a greenhouse or at least a sunroom. Oh, and I am envious of your snows…. someday I want to see a good deep snow. 🙂
You amaze me with your green thumb, even in winter! Thanks so much for partying with us at the #WednesdayAIMLinkParty 30! Shared ♥
Wow – flowers that bloom in the winter just don’t happen in my neck of the woods, lol! Love seeing these gorgeous blooms though. We do get pansies in the nursery here by the end of May, and we will often plant them then, though it sometimes snows as late as the second week of June. Yet from mid-June through the third week of August we have close to 24-hours of sunlight and warmth, so the flower growth (for annuals like petunias and impatiens) is crazy!
Sarita, after reading a little bit about where you live, I certainly understand! I do find it so interesting to learn how different and yet the same we are. 🙂
I love the snow drops and crocuses in my garden. I have winter Jasmine in flower as well. I am in Engand and I think we call your Lenten roses Christmas roses but they usually flower in January or February.
Yes, I love grape hyacinths too! I am just getting some bulbs planted in our yard. Snowdrops and crocus are on my list… 🙂
Hey there…I just love all the pictures of the beautiful flowers. My favorite flower is the Stargazer Lily. I’m not really a green-thumber. My husband works construction on new homes, and often brings home plants they have dug up to throw away. (He can’t stand throwing them away…lol.) All plants do well down here in Florida…even in the winter :o}
Great job on the post…and I can only imagine one day having my website set up so beautifully.
Hello girlfriday! I love your name!! I am envious of creative people. Oh yes, the stargazer is a beautiful flower! That is so exciting that your husband brings you flowers home! So thoughtful. 🙂
My Mom used to grow Camellias. I loved them…. the color just pops!
I think Camellias are one of the most perfect flowers…. I mean… they are evergreen, the flowers are gorgeous colors and often look like roses but no thorns… I love them! Thanks Crystal. 🙂
I’m so jealous right now. I’ve tried growing camellias here in our garden but they just don’t do well. I think the PH in our soil is too high for them, plus we tend to have very dry Summers, so they suffer terribly here on the highveld. Love that beautiful red on of yours Nikki, so stunning
Michelle, I do love camellias! I want to add more & more of them. I am sorry to hear that they won’t grow for you. I bet you have some flowers though that I can’t grow either. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I feel like such a bum Nikki. I did not even plant pansies this winter. I usually switch out my Lantana for Pansies in the pots out front but nope not this year. So much going on and I just did not get around to it and now it’s almost spring. 🙂 I will do better next year. Love the list. Some I’ve never tried. TFS
I didn’t either Clearissa. Some days you just can’t get to everything you’d like to do. I just move it to the next to do list… 🙂
I moved from southwest Virginia (NOT West VA) to southside Virginia and it’s been a huge change in a lot of ways. I moved from roughly 6A to 8A, depending upon time of year and weather. Nothing winter bloomed in those Appy Mtns but pansies and snow drops were the first to poke their heads when brave enough. I’ve not been here long enough to do more than think about planting flowers, other than containers, but like your list, especially the jasmine.
Well, who knew there’d be such a zone change in the same state! We have now moved on to the actual spring plants blooming.
Congrats Nikki! Your post is FEATURED at the #WednesdayAIMLinkParty 31! Come party with us again and share some posts!
Thanks Dee! 🙂