Best bulbs for Christmas flowering – 6 blooms to spread joy
These top-tier Christmas flowering bulbs will brighten your house and garden with festive colour and style.
To make your home feel fabulously festive, we have compiled a list of the best Christmas plants and flowers for you to use this year.
BEST BULBS FOR CHRISTMAS FLOWERING
These Christmas flowering bulbs will breathe new life into any space, whether you’re looking to add colour to your winter garden ideas or trying to force bulbs indoors for Christmas.
Forcing bulbs may be the only way to get flowers this time of year in colder parts of the country. For some late December cheer, however, these bulbs can be grown in the garden in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 8. If you want flowers at the end of the year, try planting bulbs in late summer.
1. AMARYLLIS
Like many tropical plants, Amaryllis are best grown indoors and are one of the simplest Christmas bulbs to grow. If you buy your bulbs in a boxed set (meaning the pot, soil, and potting fiber are all part of the package), chances are they will have directions printed on the box. This is the standard form in which Hippeastums (more commonly known as Amaryllis) are sold. However, you will need to purchase prepared bulbs to grow ‘outdoor’ bulbs for Christmas flowering. Gardening expert Mick Lavelle advises, “Make sure they are clearly labeled as such before buying them.”
2. HYACINTH
Hyacinths, one of the most popular spring bulbs, can also be grown for their festive winter bloom. Florist Jess Lister of Aesme Studio says hyacinths are “a deliciously scented flower to have in the house in late winter.” You can use them as cut flowers in the middle of bowl arrangements or leave them to bloom as bulbs in vases or pots. Growing your own, you can find some unique, nuanced colours from bulb suppliers, from pale creamy yellow to apricot and salmon, as Jess puts it.
Indoor and outdoor hyacinths benefit from knowing when to plant their bulbs to maximize the likelihood of a late-December bloom.
3. NARCISSI PAPERWHITE
Paperwhite Narcissus, in contrast to many other Christmas bulbs, require very little care or maintenance before they bloom. Chilling paperwhite narcissus is unnecessary, as Mick Lavelle explains; they can be grown on a warm, sunny windowsill.
Narcissi ‘Paperwhite’ should be planted by mid-November to ensure they bloom in time for the holidays. Plant expert Sarah Raven recommends moving forced bulbs to a cool windowsill once they reach about an inch in height.
4. SNOWDROPS
Snowdrops are one of the most adaptable Christmas-flowering bulbs, blooming beautifully in either a sunny or frosty outdoor location. Snowdrops can flower in December in regions with mild winters. Choose Very Early or Early varieties if you want flowers sooner than with more conventional plants. A few excellent options for early-season snow are ‘Earliest,’ ‘Earliest of All,’ and ‘November Merlin.
Garden expert Leigh Clapp from Homes & Gardens says that hardy snowdrops are lovely when combined with hellebores and aconites and planted in naturalized drifts on lawns, against contrasting coloured winter stems, or in troughs.
It is impossible to ensure December blooming when growing outdoors, but knowing how to plant snowdrops can help. Uncontrollable factors like temperature, frost, and snow will all play a part.
Try forcing the bulbs indoors if you absolutely must have snowdrops in the dead of winter. Because they require cold to germinate, careful planning is needed. Snowdrops in pots may be challenging to grow, but they are guaranteed to brighten any room if you do.
5. CROCUS
Crocuses are some of our favourite Christmas bulbs because of the wide flowering of colours they come in, from pure white to deep purple and pink. To get the most out of your Christmas flowering display, it’s essential to know when each flowering bulb will bloom. Species crocuses, for example, will bloom before more significant Dutch types. The earliest varieties of Crocus sublimis include the ‘Tricolor’ form. Knowing when to plant crocuses is essential if you want to see flowers in late December when most people hope to see them bloom.
6. WINTER ACCONITE
One of the best winter flowers, Winter Aconites, is bright and sunny with its yellow face. For optimal results, cultivate them in a sunny outdoor location (Zones 4-9).
You can expect to see golden, cup-shaped flowers with a green leaf collar from winter aconite bulbs in the spring. They resemble buttercups in every way, except that their blooming season is the dead of winter. Gardening Express experts say they thrive in moist soil and partial shade, making them ideal for planting among trees.
WHAT BULBS BLOOM FOR CHRISTMAS?
Bulbs such as narcissus paperwhites, amaryllis, snowdrops, crocus, and hyacinth all flower around the holiday season. All these bulbs will bloom in time for Christmas if you grow them indoors, and some will bloom in December if you plant them outside.
IS IT TOO LATE TO PLANT BULBS FOR CHRISTMAS?
Do not worry; there is still time to plant Christmas bulbs. To have your Christmas bulbs in the ground by Christmas, you must plant them by three weeks before the holiday. Once planted, paperwhite narcissus will take about three to four weeks to bloom indoors.
