Brighten Up Winter With Indoor Plants for Blooms and Fragrance | If you love walking out in summer and smelling the lilacs and hyacinths, you probably miss your garden when winter snow blankets the ground. While winter has its own beauty and the scent of evergreens on the air, it's just not the same as a summer garden. By January, many people have almost forgotten what the first rose of summer smells like and would love to be able to look at some beautiful flowers instead of bare, gray tree branches. There is a way to bring color and scent inside even in the middle of winter. Indoor plants are just as generous with their blossoms and smells as their outdoor cousins, and many are easy to grow.
One of the easiest and least demanding plants to grow is the Streptocarpus plant. This charmer is very forgiving and will thrive on a cool, northeast windowsill or anywhere in indirect sun. Even if you've tried to grow African Violets or Orchids and have had no luck, you'll succeed with this beautiful but hardy plant. A little bit of plant food will be appreciated once a month or so, but don't overfeed or you'll end up with all leaves and no flowers.
Perhaps the best plant for fragrance is the winter-blooming Jasmine. Their delicate little white flowers cover their twining branches which willingly curl around any support you give them. Put a heart-shaped wire hoop over them and they'll cover it with blooms. Although they look exotic, they really like cool nights and bright but not direct sun. Water them as soon as the soil is dry, but don't over-water and if you want to make them really happy, put their pots on a tray of pebbles in water. To keep them blooming right through the winter, be vigilant about pruning. New branches will sprout and produce more buds and blooms. The scent of one winter-blooming jasmine, though delicate, can perfume a good-sized room.
For foliage rather than blooms, you can't beat a spider plant. They're almost impossible to kill, produce many small plants you can pot and give to friends, and clean the air. They're very nice to hand in front of a window with bright but indirect sunlight. They also do well on a kitchen windowsill or in a bathroom, where the moisture keeps them from drying out. They'll actually come back from severe under-watering and need no more than a semi-annual feeding with foliage plant food. They also don't mind being pot-bound, so don't be in a hurry to re-pot them until they're overflowing their pots.
If you enjoy growing begonias as annuals in your summer garden, consider growing some indoors in the winter. Be sure to get the winter flowering varieties, also called Reiger begonias. Even with very little daylight, begonias will thrive with big shiny leaves and small but well-shaped pink, white or red blooms. Begonias do not take kindly to over-watering so let them dry out between watering. As with the streptocarpus, don't overfeed or you'll end up with fewer blooms and more leaves.
Even in the dead of winter, there's no reason to deny yourself the beauty of flowers and foliage. Give yourself a treat this winter and bring a little spring to your home with indoor house plants. They'll clean the air, adding oxygen and removing toxins, and they'll lift your spirits. When the wind howls around the eaves and the snow falls outside your window, houseplants can bring warmth and cheer to you and your home.
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