Well, the last of my roses of the season are gone. That means no more flowers in my home during this winter season. (Yeah, I know… some of you are thinking, “Suck it up, Shannon. California has a long growing season compared to some of us!”)

But as much as fresh blooms seem like an impossibility, there are some elegant ways to get the beauty of fresh flowers into your home during the winter months without spending tons of money on a florist.

Don’t get me wrong; I love the beauty of a professionally arranged display of flowers. But prefer them for more special occasions than everyday decorating. So what to do instead:

Indoor blooms with flowering houseplants

Indoor houseplants can add so much color and life to your home during the gray winter months. And as a bonus, they help clean the air, too. Here are some of the plants that work well for winter blooming.

• Christmas cactus – Year after year, this Brazilian native will put out lovely red and pink blooms. The Christmas cactus is actually a forest cactus, so it doesn’t need the bright light that desert cacti need.
• African violets – Somewhat demure, African violets’ lovely purple blooms add sweet color to rooms in winter. You can also get African violets in bright pink and fuchsia. They do like bright light but not direct sunlight, so that a north-facing window would be perfect.
• Ixora – You might know this as Flame of the Woods. It’s a flowering plant with clusters of little orange, red, and yellow flowers. Its foliage is something like fig leaves, and they come up bronze-colored and then turn bright green.

Forcing Bulbs

For flowering bulbs that bring spring-like fragrance and color to your home, you’ll need to “force” them. Here are some suggestions on what bulbs to use and how to get them to flower.

• Daffodils and other Narcissus
• Hyacinths
• Lily of the Valley
• Tulips
• Crocus

To get the bulbs to bloom in winter, start about 3 to 4 weeks before you want them to flower. Before bringing them in for forcing, bulbs need to be exposed to the cold for a few months. You can place them in the refrigerator if you like to get that little cold snap!

Once they’ve been exposed to cold for a time, you can force them in pots of soil or in water. Crocus, hyacinths, and daffodils will work in water; the others need soil.

For soil: Put some sand, gravel, or soil in clay pots. Then place the bulbs, pointy end up, in clay pots and add soil to cover them partly. Bulbs should not be buried. Water, and keep the soil moist continually. You don’t need rich soil; the bulbs have food stored in themselves for one bloom cycle.

For water: In a vase designed for the purpose or one you rig up yourself, the bulb should be placed above, not in, a reservoir of water. Then it should be kept in a dark room where it’s cool (such as a garage) for a month or two – long enough for the roots to develop and the top to get longer. Then you can place it in the sun.

Right now, I have some Hyacinths blooming in my bedroom and some narcissus ‘paperwhites’ in our piano room.

Flowering Branches and Cuttings

This is one of my favorite ways to add some blooms to my house – for free! Here are some shrubs and trees that make good blooming cuttings:

• Dogwood
• Quince
• Forsythia
• Pussy willow
• Cherry
• Crab apple
• Jasmine

Take cuttings with sharp tools, then place them in water. Use containers that hold the branches upright. Place in a cool and shady place until you see buds. Then you can move them to a light location but not in direct sunlight.

Right now, my lemon tree is full of lemons and has a ton of additional blooms.  It’s a no-brainer to snag some and put in a pretty vase for a beautiful display. (I even have a couple of small green lemon fruit on some branches for a cute touch!)

The key is to look outside and see what you can find.  I’ve found plenty of colorful branches that could make a beautiful display in my home on a walk.