10 Winter-Blooming Flowers to Keep Your Garden Colorful

a rose with frost — Credit:
Getty / ipsimus

If you're an avid gardener, winter can be a difficult season to get through—after all, the majority of your florals hibernate during the colder months. But the season doesn't have to be a bare, barren one, marked by snow-covered rose bushes and lifeless garden beds. Winter bloomers are a great way to add color to your yard during the year's shortest and darkest days.

Giving your winter bloomers the best possible chance to flourish often requires some replanting—and always involves extra planning before the weather turns cold. Winter- or spring-blooming trees need to hit the ground long before the last few weeks of the growing season, but this work heralds a major payoff: Seeing glimmers of color when nearly everything else is brown or gray will make your efforts to revive your outdoor space worthwhile.

From easy annuals you can plant right in the ground and flowers that can withstand the temperature drop in window boxes to shrubs that begin as bulbs in the fall and surprise you in early spring, these plants are the prettiest way to add unexpected color to the season's bitterest frosts and heaviest snowfalls.

01 of 10

Winter Heath

Winter heath, or Erica carnea, is a colorful container plant or groundcover. "This is a beautiful blooming perennial that comes to flowers in late winter and early spring, sometimes as early as February!" says Justin Lievano of UrbanStems. "It’s a lush, low-lying shrub that blooms in soft pink tones for up to three weeks in the right conditions."

Zone: 5 to 7
Size: 6 to 12 inches tall x 18 inches wide
Growing conditions: Full sun; sandy, well-draining soil

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02 of 10

Hellebore

These saucer-shaped flowers, which come in white, pink, yellow, green, and maroon, emerge in winter and remain on the plant for several months. Loved for their deer-resistance and mostly evergreen nature, hellebores burst into color as the rest of your garden goes to sleep.

Zone: 4 to 9
Size: 9 to 18 inches tall x 18 to 24 inches wide
Growing conditions: Partial shade; moist, well-drained soil

Ensure you plant winter-blooming flowers in well-drained soil to avoid root rot from excess moisture. Adding organic matter like compost can improve drainage and provide essential nutrients.

03 of 10

Cyclamen

Bright additions to both your cold-weather planters or garden beds, these petite buds feature statement flowers atop heart-shaped leaves. They look particularly beautiful mass-planted under trees (and flower beautifully indoors, too).

Zone: 5 to 9
Size: 10 inches tall x 10 inches wide
Growing conditions: Partial shade; loose, well-drained soil

04 of 10

Ornamental Cabbage

Though not technically a floral, a cabbage's rosette-shaped, frilly leaves help it mask as one come winter (these are cousins of the edible varieties).

Zone: 2 to 11
Size: 12 to 15 inches tall x 12 to 15 inches wide
Growing conditions: Full sun; rich, well-drained soil

05 of 10

Camellias

ice-covered pink camellia flower — By Stephanie Zell / Getty Images

Camellias aren't a quick annual to pop into the ground just before the weather turns—you need to plan ahead to incorporate these shrubs or small trees into your home's landscape. These florals come in shades of pink, red, or white.

Zone: 6 to 9
Size: 6 feet tall (or more) x 5 feet wide
Growing conditions: Full shade to partial sun; rich, well-drained soil

06 of 10

Witch Hazel

This large deciduous shrub goes from dormant to lively in winter, blooming with lush yellow flowers—the buds are quite a sight in a sea of bare branches. Before you plant these, however, make sure you have the room: Witch hazel can grow 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide.

Zone: 4 to 8
Size: 20 to 30 feet tall x 12 to 15 feet wide
Growing conditions: Full sun; rich soil

07 of 10

Snowdrop

Just as you'd expect from their name, these are among the first to bloom in your winter garden. Grown from bulbs, these early bloomers will eventually form clumps, and then spread over time.

Zone: 3 to 9
Size: 6 inches tall
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade; all soils

08 of 10

Crocus

If you plant these by the bulb in the fall, you can expect periwinkle blooms to emerge in early spring—sometimes straight through the snow.

Zone: 3 to 8
Size: 6 inches tall
Growing conditions: Full sun; gritty, well-drained, poor soil

09 of 10

Winter Jasmine

Looking for a vine that blooms during the colder months? Consider winter jasmine, which erupts in yellow flowers in February or March, and is hardy in temperatures as low as -5 degrees Farenheit.

Zone: 6 to 10
Size: 4 to 15 feet tall x 3 to 6 feet wide
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade; sandy or clay soils

10 of 10

Daphne

One of the best-smelling flowers to plant in your garden, daphne blooms just after winter. We're including it on our list, however, since its unparalleled perfume signals the changing of the seasons and the waking of the rest of the garden. When they bloom, tiny tubular flowers appear on the small mounding shrubs.

Zone: 6 to 9
Size: 3 to 4 feet tall x 2 to 4 feet wide
Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade; moist, well-drained soil

10 Beautiful Winter-Blooming Flowers to Keep Your Garden Colorful Until Spring