Christmas plants, flowers, and shrubs brighten our world during the dark winter season.
Although some plants go dormant during winter, we don’t want our gardens to follow suit.
We’ve selected a few of our favorite Christmasplants and flowersfor the holiday season.
Credit: Elizabeth Fernandez / Getty Images
Grow these selections for a garden plot that can withstand the cold weatherand look great.
Amaryllis
Amaryllisis a popular flowering plant for festive Christmas decor.
It grows from a bulb and blooms about six weeks after planting.
Credit: ngaliero / Getty Images
Growing in October or November ensuresAmarylliswill bear a cluster of vibrant red or white trumpet-shaped flowers come Christmas.
American Mistletoe
This festive plant comes with a warning.
American mistletoe(Phoradendron serotinum)is native from Florida to the mid-Atlantic and west to Texas.
Credit: Jacky Parker Photography / Getty Images
Its calling card is that it grows in a parasitic manner on the branches of host trees.
Bodnant Viburnum
The deciduous plantViburnum bodnantensegrows to great heights10 feet tall and 6 feet wide.
The best-known selection isViburnum bodnantense’Dawn,' which produces subtle red fruit and blooms in winter.
Credit: G.N. van der Zee / Getty Images
In fall, the color changes continue asViburnum’s green leaves turn a deep scarlet hue.
CARE:Viburnumspeciestolerate most soils, even those too heavy or lime-rich for other plants.
They appreciate some shade in the hot Southern summers and require minimal pruning each year.
Credit: Diane Labombarbe / Getty Images
Bosc Pear
These deliciously crisp fruits ripen from late fall through winter.
Bosc pears make for excellent winter fruit trees that you’ll look forward to harvesting yearly.
CARE: Plant Bosc pears in containers or gardens with full sun and ample water.
Credit: undefined undefined / Getty Images
Hardy in USDA zones 49, specific varieties are better suited for growing in containers.
They can take several years to establish before bearing fruit.
bridgesii) has an eye-catching combination of bright green scalloped stems and long red flowers.S.
Credit: Cinzia Pascutto / EyeEm / Getty Images
truncatais another holiday-blooming cactus species with deep scarlet flowers.
It’s known as the Thanksgiving cactus because it blooms slightly earlier in the season.
CARE: TheChristmas cactusgrows best with regular watering in partial shade or bright indirect light.
Credit: Madeline Dudley-Yates / EyeEm / Getty Images
It also thrives in rich, porous soil.
It produces lovely Christmastime blooms and provides a subtle garden color.C.
Almost all species go dormant during the summer.
Credit: Katrin Ray Shumakov / Getty Images
CARE:Cyclamenare good container plants and should be grown in full indirect sunlight or partial shade.
They thrive in rich, well-drained soil that is neutral or slightly alkaline.
Hardiness depends upon the species.
Credit: Marjeta Sustarsic / EyeEm / Getty Images
Mix coarse sand and organic matter into the soil for an ideal environment before planting.
(This helps the tree better absorb water.)
Glory Of The Snow
These charming flowers get their name from the time in which they bloom.
Credit: LordRunar / Getty Images
They often bloom early enough to poke up out of the snow.
Glory-of-the-snow(Chionodoxa forbesii)produces small, blue, and white star-shaped flowers.
However, for an early potful of Glory-of-the-snow flowers, you could forceChionodxatobloom indoors.
Credit: Jacky Parker Photography / Getty Images
They’ll need well-draining soil and rich potting mix when you plant them.
Ivy
While ivy(Hederasp.
This evergreen climbing vine can spread horizontally over the ground or vertically up walls.
Credit: Neil Holmes / Getty Images
It’s also lovely, dangling from hanging baskets or trellises and curling delicately in pots.
It also has pretty blue-hued berries in winter.
They grow as shrubs, trees, or in columnar forms.
Credit: capecodphoto / Getty Images
‘Bar Harbor’ has feathery, blue-gray foliage that shifts to purple in the winter months.
Plant juniper in gardens orlarge containers, but give them plenty of space to grow.
Because of this, they can also work as a ground cover.
Credit: Maria Mosolova / Science Photo Library / Getty Images
The blossoms also last and maintain their form but fade to green as the blooming period ends.
CARE:Lenten roseis a long-lived plant in the garden.
Most hellebores thrive in well-drained, moderately moist soil in light shade.
Credit: Yoko Okamoto / Getty Images
CARE:Mahoniais considered invasive in some Southern states.
This is a low-maintenance planting, requiring well-draining soil and only the occasional prune.
They are hardy throughout the South and can withstand below-freezing winter temperatures.
Credit: ImageJournal-Photography / Getty Images
Also known as flowering cabbages and kales, these plants are beautiful additions to cold-season gardens.
It has shiny green leaves and flowers in white, blue, red, and yellow hues.
Sprite Mix is a pretty and reliable choice if you’re looking for winter ground cover.
Credit: Anton Eine / EyeEm / Getty Images
CARE:Choose pansies for mass plantings in garden borders.
It thrives in mild winters when planted in rich, moist soil.
It requires little soil.
Credit: Benjamin Oberneder / Getty Images
Once planted, expect blooms in four to six weeks.
When it flowers, the paperwhite produces delicate, fragrant white flowers appearing in bunches on tall green stems.
CARE:Paperwhite narcissusis a hardy, albeit fleeting, blooming bulb and often flowers at Christmastime.
Credit: A-S-L / Getty Images
It would help if you kept them in a cool environment away from direct sunlight.
Once the blooms appear, they’ll likely begin to droop.
When this happens, you’ll need to stake the stems for support.
Credit: Johnathan A. Esper, Wildernesscapes Photography / Getty Images
It’s an evergreen, semi-evergreen, or deciduous shrub that can thrive indoors or outdoors.
Its showy, petal-like bracts are well-known at Christmastime, as it is omnipresent in the single red form.
CARE: Avoid overwatering poinsettia plants.
Credit: Hsvrs / Getty Images
Take care to water moderately only when the soil becomes dry.
Poinsettias require little in the way of care and will grow tall and leggy before you know it.
Primrose
While many species of primrose (Primulasp.)
Credit: John Dreyer / Getty Images
The hues of these flowers vary among the species and selections.
At the base of the English primrose plant are clumps of foliage resembling the leaves of romaine lettuce.
CARE: These plants thrive in pots and when planted en masse.
Credit: c11yg / Getty Images
Primrose requires a cool, humid climate in USDA zones 48 and soil that’s both moist and rich.
CARE: You cangrow rosemaryindoors or out, where it is hardy in USDA zones 7 and warmer.
Indoors, grow rosemary in pots on a sunny windowsill.
Credit: Martin Ruegner / Getty Images
They can overwinter indoors, or you’re able to treat them as annuals.
They require regular water and plenty of bright light.
Outdoors, rosemary requires full sun and well-drained soil.
Credit: ImageJournal-Photography/Getty Images
Snowdrops
Snowdrops (Galanthusspecies)bloom in late winteror early spring.
CARE: Plant snowdrops in a sunny or partially shady spot during the fall.
They thrive in moist, well-drained soil and need regular watering.
Credit: Southern Living, 2006
Plant them three to five inches deep and two to three inches apart.
Snowdrops can also grow indoors.
After the buds appear, move them to a cool, bright area to encourage blooming.
Credit:Getty Images
These types are moderately resistant to cold in the South (hardy in USDA zones 811).
For more cold-hardy citrus, try planting kumquats or satsuma mandarins.
CARE: Winter citrus is a dose of sunshine in the colder months.
Credit: Dragan Todorovic / Getty
In addition to fruit, citrus plants offer shiny, year-round foliage and bear small, fragrant blossoms.
Winterberry may drops its leaves in winter, but its berries positively glow with Christmas cheer.
It’s deer resistant but loved by birds and butterflies.
Plant winterberry in moist, acid, organic soils, and it should grow well.
Winter Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle occurs in evergreen, semi-evergreen, or deciduous shrubs and vines.
Winter honeysuckle flowers throughout the winter and produce tiny cream-colored blooms that carry a sweet fragrance.
The flowers accompany small, red fruit that resembles other, more familiar berry forms.
Check to see if winter honeysuckle is invasive in your state before planting.
CARE:Winter honeysuckleis a good choice for a compact clipped hedge.
Doing this will fill your home with a telltale delicately sweet honeysuckle scent.
It’s a beautiful ornamental accent in winter gardens or holiday decorations.
It also is popular as a screen or trimmed into hedges.
This plant is resistant to deer and can tolerate difficult conditions, including prolongedsea spray.
‘Yuletide’ Camellia
Camellia sasanqua’Yuletide' is a winter-blooming flowering shrub.
It bears bright red, single blooms on a small, densely foliated plant.
CARE: This particular camellia is a drought-tolerant, hardy perennial plant that requires little garden maintenance once established.
It’s evergreen and thrives in the mild winters of the South.
Winter Aconite
These tiny flowers are native to Europe and Asia.
They tend tobloom in late winteror early spring.
CARE: For winter blooms, plant the tubers in late summer.
Place them in a spot with full sun or partial shade.
Plant them at least three inches deep and four inches apart in moist, porous soil.
They also grow best with regular water.
Crocus
In the Upper and Middle South,these bulbs naturalizein the garden.
Translucent, tissue-paper blooms perch above the still-cold earth and stretch for warmth on sunny days.
These early risers also take to containers, so you will find them coaxed into bloom in garden shops.
Nurseries produce blooming containers for immediate enjoyment.
Choose a planting site where there is well-draining soil; the corms will rot in soggy, compacted ground.
Before planting, work in organic matter such as compost to a depth of at least 10 inches.
The Upper South enjoys the happy primrose as a perennial under trees and shrubs.
The rest of us appreciate them as seasonal potted plants.
Few plants beat the primrosefor winter color, and they are extremely cold-hardy.
CARE: Primroses prefer cool weather and damp soil.
Outdoors, they snuggle into containers and thrive, provided they don’t suffer a hard freeze.
Again, moisture is key.
They thrive in partial shade and need regular watering.
They prefer the soil to be well-draining, and slightly more acidic.
Use half-strength fertilizer when regularly feeding these pretty florals.
Winter pansies (Viola hiemalis) are perfect forwintertime flowerbeds.
CARE: While winter pansies are very tolerant of the cold, they grow the best in sunlight.
When planting your pansies, consider their location.
Plus, winter pansies can return for three years or more.
CARE: This vibrant herb is readily adaptable to almost any garden in the United States.
It tolerates temperatures down to 26F but can be heat sensitive in temperatures above 85F.
The plants dont usually die in extreme cold or heat, but they may stop blooming.
Hard freezes will kill calendula plants and leave behind their seeds for next years self-sown patch.
