Gorgeous Flowers to Add Color to Your Winter Garden

Do you ignore your garden in the winter because all of the flowers have died off from the spring and summer months? If you do you may want to reconsider that habit as there are some absolutely beautiful blooms that you can cultivate in the winter that will add brilliant splashes of color to your landscape.

Here are some of our favorites:

Calendula
Calendula are beautiful winter blooms. In appearance they look like a cross between a marigold and a daisy and they come in the most amazing colors - bright tangerine, apricots, creams and even bright yellows. As they are very hardy as long as they have plenty of light they can remain in bloom from late fall until the spring in milder climates that do not see too much snow.

Cineraria
These brilliantly colored purple and pink flowers need very little light and they stand up to colder temperatures very well. They are a fantastic choice for adding color to those darker corners of your garden.

Cyclamen
The cyclamen is a very traditional winter flower that many people will recognize. Resting on pretty green and white veined leaves these pretty upturned bell blooms come in shades of white, rose, light pink and red. The smaller bloomed flowers are best for outdoor planting though as they are hardier than their larger cousins.

Hellebores
These dainty flowers, which are also often called Christmas Roses, look almost as though they belong in a fairy grotto. Their blooms are dropping and delicate and tend to look like tiny multicolored bells, with white, green, red and even bluish pink petals. As the colors fade the flowers still live on, turning a delicate green before eventually fading away altogether.

The Iceland Poppy
Poppies are beautiful flowers at any time of the year but this variety is made for the cold. Instead of being the familiar red these poppies come in several different shades, including salmon pink and a delicate apricot.

In milder winter climates the Iceland Poppy can bloom all winter long and even in colder climes they can be planted to make an appearance in January.

Ornamental Kale
Ornamental kale is winter favorite that can thrive and add color to gardens in even the coldest places. Its bright green and purple leaves grow out in a huge variation of shades and their slightly pale colors make them a great companion for a little white snow.

Winter Jasmine
Winter Jasmine is a creeping plant that has bright yellow flowers and glossy green leaves. If you train the plant along a trellis or fence it can reach up to fifteen feet high and will provide a bright splash of color to lighten up a gloomy winter's day. It should be noted though that this plant does not have a scent, so it is really a jasmine in name only.

Red River Lilly
The delicate, glossy six petaled Red River Lilly blooms at its brightest in the Fall but on milder winter days it will return and add some extra color to your outdoor space for a few more days.

Witch Hazels
There are a number of different witch hazel variations that will bloom colorfully all throughout the Fall and the Winter. One variety 'Jelena'; is particularly impressive though. This variation has bright red ball like blooms that then have bright yellow tendrils extending from them, almost like spider legs.

Snowdrops
These pretty little flowers look exactly the way their name suggests they will. In most areas they will bloom the strongest in November but hardier varieties often survive well into February.