For a heavenly scent in your home, try paperwhites. These daffodil relatives bear clusters of small white flowers that will fill a room with their powerful perfume. Smell them at the garden center before you buy them. While most people love their scent, about 10 percent of noses think paperwhites smell like dirty socks. The name paperwhite is due to the fact that when the white flowers fade, they turn to the consistency of tissue paper.
The most spectacular winter-blooming plant for the windowsill is the amaryllis. Its enormous trumpet-shaped flowers--up to five inches across--may be red, white, pink, coral, chartreuse, or multi-colored, such as those with red and white stripes. You can purchase the plants in bloom or buy dormant bulbs to plant and grow yourself. The same goes for paperwhite bulbs.
Cyclamen love a chilly spot on a windowsill, so if you live in a drafty Victorian house, this is the plant for you. Cyclamens feature dark green leaves veined with silver and down facing flowers with petals that sweep into the air. The flowers may be red white, magenta, pink, salmon or multi-colored. If kept cool and moist, they will bloom all winter. I put my plants outside in the shade in summer.
Kalanchoes also bloom for a very long time and need little care. Their waxy leaves indicate that they don't need much water. They bear clusters of small single or double flowers in red, orange, pink, yellow or white. After they finish blooming, save them until late spring and put them on your patio to flower again.
Christmas cactus should also be kept from year to year. They are also easy to care for and have spectacular flowers in neon shades of red, pink, mango or white. Despite the name Christmas cactus, these Brazilian plants are not very drought tolerant. Keep them slightly moist all the time.
Other plants that bloom in winter and have extended displays are hydrangeas, azaleas and mums. Ivy, Norfolk Island pine, lemon cypress and other foliage plants also add a festive touch. Group plants together for group humidity and they'll last longer.
Plants shown in this segment are courtesy of Tagawa Gardens.
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