Winter Flowers for Your Windowsill

Common camellia (Camellia japonica) is the queen of the Southern winter garden, with big, luscious blooms. Camellia’s heavy flowers like a little support and work best floating in shallow bowls or displayed in short, heavy vases or pitchers.

If you don't have any camellias in your garden, now is a great time to plant these.

Camellia Planting Guide

The prolific blooms of pansies and violas (Viola sp.) offer a welcome splash of color in wintertime, but many gardeners don’t think of using them as cut flowers. You can, though. These delicate flowers work best in small bottles and vases. And—surprise—when you bring them into the warmth of your house, you’ll notice (maybe for the first time) their sweet fragrance.

If you didnt plant any pansies and violas last fall, you can still add them to your garden now.

• Pansy and Viola Planting Guide

When clipping flowers from your garden, always look for ones that have just opened or are about to open. Bring along a container of water to give freshly cut blooms an immediate drink. For larger flowers, a shallow bowl works best. For smaller ones, opt for a juice glass.

Burt's Bees Hand Salve
Look for Burt's Bees hand salve and other products at your local drugstore or at burtsbees.com.

Joyce Chen Scissors
Find them at your local nursery or online at cutleryandmore.com.

Flower Vases
Find them at flea markets, antiques stores, or ebay.com.