Winter Flowers: 9 Plants That Bloom in Colder Months

All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by Architectural Digest editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission.

Illustration: Ellie Schiltz/Getty Images

Summer and spring aren’t the only times for blooms. Winter flowers around your home and garden offer a cheerful winter wakeup, a refresh to an otherwise dark, cold weather season. “Snowdrops, for example, while they lack height, make a great cut flower,” says Marryn Mathis, owner of the Farmhouse Flower Farm and author of Sweet Pea School: Growing and Arranging the Gardens Most Romantic Blooms. You can keep them in a winter garden or add them to a simple elegant bud vase, posy, or at the base of floral arrangements, ushering in beauty and warmth to a winter abode.

But that’s not the only beautiful winter flower to chase away winter blues. There’s winter daphne, known for its white to pale pink flowers, winter Jasmine, and even witch hazel—one of winter’s most unique plants because of its golden fringed flowers and soft fragrance.

These winter-blooming flowers can be kept potted or planted outside to bask in the winter sun. You don’t have to be living in tropical climates to make them bloom outside, nor do you need to always be tending your garden with these early winter flowers. Read on for all the best winter flowers (and all their care needs) to help you start your own winter flower displays indoors or out.

Winter daphne

This flower starts blooming between late winter and very early spring and is known for its beautiful white or pale pink star-shaped flowers. An evergreen shrub, winter daphne prefers full sun to partial shade and thrives in hardiness zones seven through nine. These plants do best with well-draining soil because they like regular watering during the spring, summer, and fall months. If your goal is to bring the flower indoors as a winter bouquet, Mathis warns that the stems must be handled with care. “All parts of this plant are toxic, and stems contain a sap that can irritate skin.” However, as an evergreen flowering shrub, the blooms can be cut to any desired length to provide winter interest to a flower arrangement.

Winter jasmine

Gardeners love this winter flowering plant. “Winter Jasmine is a star of the winter garden,” says Mathis. “This beautiful vine provides golden yellow flowers that shine in late winter on long wiry wooden stems.” Though the vine isn’t fragrant, it’s a fast grower in full sun to partial shade. “It is very easily trained to creep over structures and arches but also propagates very easily as canes will root when it comes into contact with the soil.” Hence it’s considered invasive in some climates, particularly in the south. It’s cold-hardy and can thrive in USDA zones 6 through 10. Turn it into a winter bouquet by cutting the vine at any length and keeping it in clean cold water to increase its vase life. “The flowers will wilt if they are kept too warm or near a heat source, so I recommend using this for short-lived installations or displays.”

Witch hazel

This stunning flower is another winter month flower. “Witch hazel is like a firework display in the dead of winter,” Mathis explains. “These unique blooms start the show in late winter and provide a gorgeous contrast of color against their wooden stems.” Witch hazel needs full sun to partial shade and well-draining soil to survive. Mathis recommends choosing a location with plenty of room because the plants can reach up to 16 feet high and 20 feet wide. It thrives in USDA zones six through eight and will require protection in the coldest zones (such as zones one to three). Make it into a winter bouquet by cutting the stems at an angle and gently splitting to encourage water to flow up the plant. “This will help give you the longest vase life for these woody stems,” Mathis adds.

Algerian iris

Plant this type of iris in areas with mild winters, such as the West Coast or Southern Gulf states. According to Lillian Ratliff, co-owner and floral designer at the Flower Place Miami, “Since Algerian Irises bloom in gorgeous purples and blues, they pair well with flowers and accents that bring out a winter vibe.” In a winter flower bouquet, you can pair them with white ranunculus and silver brunia for a soft contrast, “while seeded eucalyptus adds a frosty touch,” she adds.

Camellia

A flowering evergreen shrub, camellias usher in glossy leaves and lush blossoms to a winter garden. They bloom throughout the late fall and early spring, making them a great plant for the festive season in USDA zones seven to nine. But if your goal is to keep them indoors as flower bouquets, Ratliff recommends trimming the stems for promoting water absorption. “These flowers should be placed in a cooler spot, around 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, in your home to help them thrive.” And if you’re using Danica Camellias, remember to hammer the ends of their stems, she adds. “This step can improve their ability to take in water.”

Christmas roses

Surprisingly, the Christmas rose is not actually a rose, nor does it bloom at Christmas in most USDA zones. But it does have beautiful pale white flowers and adds a nice year-round ground cover. Gardeners like this plant because it is easy to care for and can thrive well in zones three through nine. It can handle full sun to partial shade and prefers moist but well-draining soil. Further, it’s an ideal statement blossom in a winter flower bouquet. “They would pair well with a soft eucalyptus, lisianthus, and anemones—all delicate flowers that bring movement and flow nicely together,” says Ratliff.

Cyclamen

With shades of pink, purple, red, and white, cyclamen has a sweet scent and small blooms that burst forth in colder months. It prefers acidic soil and likes it to be moist but well-draining soil. During the summer season, the plant goes dormant, but with good care, it will reappear and rebloom in winter. According to our experts, cyclamen like bright indirect light and are often kept as potted houseplants if not in the garden.

Snowdrops

These winter bloomers are one of the first flowers you’ll see appear in the garden. “They bloom between February and March and are very easy to grow,” says Mathis. Producing stems between four and six inches tall, snowdrops appear like small pops of color. According to Mathis, bulbs need to be planted in the fall in a location with shade or partial shade and well-draining soil. “Snowdrops do best when planted at the base of trees or shrubs,” she adds. Plant your snowdrop bulbs four to six inches deep and water regularly. Alternatively, if you want to keep snowdrops as a cut flower indoors, Mathis recommends searing the stems for 10 seconds in boiling water then placing them immediately into cold water. “Keep blooms away from heat sources to increase their vase life and to avoid wilt,” she adds.

Daffodil

Beloved by pollinators, daffodils are flowering perennial bulbs that appear in late winter or very early spring. They are low-maintenance and flourish in climates with frosty winter days. Once temps warm, the bright yellow flowers pop out of the ground and look like delicate buttercups, making a beautiful contrast in any stark winter landscape. Depending on the type of daffodil, the flowers can be large, small, white, yellow, or both colors—some varieties even come in orange or pink. They love full to partial sun and need moist but well-draining soil to survive. Plant these in USDA zones four to eight.

Ideas to display and style winter flowers

If you’ve planted winter blooms and are looking for ways to display them in your home, consider the following AD-approved ideas.

Pick the right vessel

Dress up your winter flower arrangements by using your fanciest vessels, like you would your spring flowers. “For a small coffee table arrangement, use your antique heirloom vases to dress it up in lieu of the full-bodied blooms you have in spring,” says Matilda Reuter Engle, designer and proprietor at Middleburg Hospitality, who oversees Glenstone Gardens and Red Fox Inn & Tavern.

Light it up

To really augment a floral display, think about the vignettes close by. “Complement your flowers with colorful pillars or taper candles with a brass or silver candlestick holder,” Engle says. These add some unexpected notes of winter color. “For hallway entries, a branch arrangement paired with these bright candles is really all you need.”

Add a tablecloth

Warm-colored flowers require balance with the implied warmth of a tablecloth, like this one with a dusty English primrose color. “Bolder colors can be incorporated into your decor, opting for heavy velvet linens and ribbons and colorful candles to mimic your favorite blooms,” Engle suggests.

Try moody tones and colors

Though elsewhere you might choose light and bright like baby pink daphne or bright buttercup, don’t be afraid to go moody in your winter color choices. Tara Fay of Tara Fay Events describes this bouquet as old-style glamour meets sophistication. “Dark and moody colors are balanced with the delicate pink roses and the silk ribbon.”

Pick a statement flower

Dahlia for the win. This display of flowers has winter-friendly ranunculus, hosta leaves, gomphrena, celosia, smilax vines, black Queen Anne’s lace, and late fall/winter bloomer (though the star of the bouquet) white dahlia, resembling large snowdrops in part shade.

Pop in fruit

As winter rolls in, harvest time is over. But you can still retain the imagery of abundance with sugared fruit, Engle says. “They are another addition to winter decor that offers a feast of color and textures.” She suggests pomegranates, pears, and grapes. “Display them in ornate trays and bowls to complement your tableware and drinkware.”

Lean into the blue

Besides warm colors, you can also opt for winter whites and lovely blue flowers to remind guests of a snowbound winter landscape. This display has dahlias, dusty miller, astilbe, white anemones, viburnum berries, and Russian olive. Paired with an ornate chair, the blooms feel like they could be perennial flowers.

Go green

This bouquet has a bounty of colors, but it has lots of green too to offset the white of winter. Along with the blue hydrangea and Amaranthus, there’s plum tree, Queen Anne’s lace, dusty miller, scabiosa, and porcelain berries. All are perfect for the winter months and were locally sourced by Engle.

Think height

Fay suggests adding height to winter flower bouquets whenever possible. Autumnal branches or leaf displays can be effective at adding height. “I love winter florals and decor; it’s such a great opportunity to layer colors and textures. Those colors and textures really make the room stand out especially when adding in heights of candles into displays,” she says.

Buy some berries

Add some red berries or witch hazel for a woodland look to your bouquets. These natural pieces are out in winter, but faux from the craft store is just as good and twice as safe as picking random berries from the woods.

Juxtapose when possible

Pair high and low for a lived-in feel. “The juxtaposition of your finest crystal vases with earthy branches is a truly beautiful sight,” Engle says, “reminiscent of the elegance of winter, like icicles dangling outside.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

More Great Stories From AD It Yourself

• Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the best of design in your inbox

• Yes, Energy Mapping Your Home Is a Thing—And It’s One of the Best Decisions I’ve Ever Made

• How to Clean Stainless-Steel Pans to Keep Them Shiny and Functional

• Analogous Colors: What They Are and How to Incorporate Them Into Your Home

• 13 Blue Kitchen Ideas to Steal, From the Boldest Pops of Color to Clever Tilework

• 24 Small Living Room Ideas for a Cozy Common Area

• How to Clean a Couch: A Complete Guide to Sprucing Up Your Sofa

• Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now