As much as we enjoy our houseplants for their pretty leaves alone, it can feel like a momentous occasion when flowers appear and bring color indoors. But many indoor flowering plants do more than just add beauty to our homes. Studies show that interaction with houseplants can lower stress levels, and caring for indoor greenery can be therapeutic and calming. Some green-leaved houseplants, such as areca palms and rubber plants, can help clean the air in your home, removing toxins and odors. Gerbera daisies continue to give off oxygen after the sun goes down, so keep a few pots in your bedroom to get a good night's sleep.
Here are some of our favorite indoor flowering plants for adding extra color and even fragrance to your indoor garden.
African Violet
Among the easiest indoor flowering plants you can grow, African violets (Saintpaulia ionantha) bloom several times a year with little effort from you. They come in hundreds of varieties, some with variegated foliage or ruffled or white-edged blooms. It's fun to collect several different varieties to enjoy all the flower colors and shapes. African violet likes warm conditions and filtered sunlight, but avoid getting water on the fuzzy leaves; it causes ugly brown spots.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 8 inches tall and 16 inches wide
Oxalis
This cute little plant has triangular, clover-like purple leaves that fold down at night or in dim light conditions. An almost constant show of pale pink or white blooms goes on above the foliage. You can also find oxalis varieties that have plain green foliage with and without silvery accents. It makes a fun gift on St. Patrick's Day.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 60-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 12 inches tall and wide
Peace Lily
The upright white flowers of peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) might not be super flashy, but they do have a stately elegance to them as they appear above the glossy foliage on long, slender stems. This easy-care indoor flowering plant can bloom throughout the year but produces the most flowers during summer. Plus, its large, deep green leaves add an instant tropical touch to any room.
Growing Conditions: Low to bright light; 60-85°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 3 feet tall and wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. Place it out of reach if your furry friends like to chew on your plants.
Anthurium
The flowers and foliage of anthuriums (Anthurium andraeanum) are both heart-shaped. The long-lasting flowers come in festive shades of pink, red, lavender, or white. They also make a long-lasting cut flower if you can bear to snip them off the plant. Even when not in bloom, its glossy green leaves are attractive all on their own.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-80°F; keep soil evenly moist, barely moist in fall and winter
Size: To 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. Place it out of reach if your furry friends like to chew on your plants.
Christmas Cactus
Many of the plants sold as Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) are actually closely related species sometimes called Thanksgiving cactus, which usually blooms a few weeks earlier. Both of these plants flower in response to cool temperatures and short days in fall and winter.
Growing Conditions: Bright light; 70-80°F, 55°F in fall; keep soil moderately dry
Size: To 12 inches tall and 18 inches wide
Flowering Maple
As its name suggests, flowering maple (Abutilon x hybridum) does have leaves that look like the foliage of a maple tree. However, the two plants aren't related. Flowering maple also has crepe-paper-like blooms in shades of red, pink, orange, or yellow that dangle among those leaves like festive lanterns. Many varieties have splotched or variegated foliage for extra interest. Grow this indoor flowering plant upright as a tree, prune it back to keep it shrubby, or even grow it in a hanging basket.
Growing Conditions: Bright to intense light; 65-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Jasmine
There are many types of jasmine. Flowered jasmine (J. polyanthum) and Arabian jasmine (J. sambac) are two of the easiest to grow; just give them plenty of light and moisture. They'll bear fragrant pink to white blooms on vining plants. These are some of the most fragrant indoor flowering plants you'll find.
Growing Conditions: Bright to intense light; 60-75°F, 40-60°F in winter; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide
Clivia
You may also see clivia (Clivia miniata) called kaffir lily. As an indoor flowering plant, it usually blooms in winter with clusters of up to 20 reddish-orange or yellow tubular flowers. Clivia blooms only when exposed to cool, dry conditions, so give it lower temperatures in winter and keep it on the dry side.
Growing Conditions: Medium light; 60-75°F, 50-55°F in winter; keep soil barely moist
Size: To 2 feet tall and wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. Place it out of reach if your furry friends like to chew on your plants.
Calamondin Orange
Calamondin orange (x Citrofortunella microcarpa) is a hybrid between mandarin orange and kumquat. This indoor flowering plant bears fragrant white blossoms in late winter or spring. The flowers develop into showy 1-inch-diameter orange fruits on a shrubby plant with glossy green foliage. Fruits can remain on the plant for many weeks. You can harvest the fruits after they ripen and use them like lemons or kumquats or make them into marmalade.
Growing Conditions: Bright to intense light; 65-80°F, 55-65°F in winter; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 4 feet tall and wide
Brazilian Fireworks
Wondering how this plant got its name? The fireworks part has two reasons: In late spring and summer, this beautiful blooming indoor flowering plant sends up deep red flower bracts that develop lavender flowers, creating an explosion of color. And as the flowers fade, it shoots out small black seeds that you can grow into even more plants. Plus, its green leaves have eye-catching silver markings. Like many houseplants, Brazilian fireworks (Porphyrocoma pohliana 'Maracas') is also a great choice for growing outdoors in a shade garden.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-80°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide
Crown-of-Thorns
This drought-tolerant poinsettia relative doesn't need much care as long as you give it plenty of bright light and keep it on the dry side. Crown-of-thorns (Euphorbia milii) has thick, spiny, gray-brown stems that are sparsely branched. Its colorful bract-like flowers last for weeks.
Growing Conditions: Bright to intense light; 65-75°F; keep soil moderately dry
Size: To 3 feet tall and wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. The milky sap can cause illness or skin irritation. It's also very thorny.
Gloxinia
Usually blooming in late winter or early spring, gloxinia (Sinningia speciosa) bears eye-catching, 3-inch-wide, bell-shaped blooms in rich colors, often marked with contrasting bands or speckles of white. After blooms fade, allow the plant to go dormant by withholding water. When new growth begins again, resume watering.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-80°F, 55-75°F when dormant; keep soil evenly moist except when dormant
Size: To 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide
Guppy Plant
This indoor flowering plant, an African violet relative, blooms most in summer, but if it has enough light, it'll flower all year long. Some species bear their blooms on long stalks that dangle like a fishing line with a goldfish at the end of the line. The arching stems and dangling blooms of the guppy plant (Nematanthus spp.) make it a good choice for hanging baskets.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-80°F, 50-55°F in winter; keep soil moderately dry
Size: To 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Lipstick Plant
Another African violet relative, the lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans) looks especially charming in hanging baskets because it produces arching stems with showy flowers that dangle from branch tips. The tubular paired flowers have dark purple cups encircling scarlet flowers. The plant blooms heaviest in fall but can flower sporadically year-round. If you take it outdoors in summer, the red flowers might attract hummingbirds.
Growing Conditions: Medium light; 60-80°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 20 inches tall and 36 inches wide
Shrimp Plant
This fast-growing shrubby plant can be kept compact with regular pruning. Shrimp plant (Aeschynanthus radicans) is a prolific bloomer, producing flower spikes all year that do look a bit like shrimps. Most varieties bear spikes of pink bracts with white tubular flowers. Others form long-lasting yellow or chartreuse bracts.
Growing Conditions: Bright to intense light; 60-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
Ixora
Sometimes called the flame of the woods, Ixora (Ixora coccinea) has orange, red, and yellow flower clusters that appear in winter. Its leathery foliage emerges bronze but turns glossy green. If the stems become too leggy, a little pruning will help keep the plant compact.
Growing Conditions: Bright light; 65-80°F; keep soil moderately dry
Size: To 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide
Geranium
Several types of geraniums (Pelargonium spp.) make great indoor flowering houseplants. Regal or Martha Washington geranium, pictured, has the largest, showiest blooms, but requires cool growing conditions. The common garden geranium (P. x hortorum) and ivy geranium (P. peltatum) also offer showy flowers but are easier-to-grow plants.
Growing Conditions: Bright to intense light; 60-75°F; keep soil moderately dry
Size: To 3 feet tall and wide
Angel-Wing Begonia
Several species are commonly called angel-wing begonia (Begonia spp.) All are upright-growing, sometimes reaching 6 feet tall. But pinching back tall stems will keep plants bushy and in the 2- to 3-foot range. In addition to having attractive green, silver, and maroon foliage, angel-wing begonias freely bloom with clusters of red, pink, or white blossoms.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. The roots and stems can cause painful mouth, lips, or throat irritation.
Rieger Begonia
Growing from a swollen tuber-like base, Rieger begonia (Begonia x hiemalis) is an easy-to-grow winter-blooming plant. Its clusters of colorful rose-like flowers appear above a tidy mound of glossy green foliage. Varieties with flowers in warm hues ranging from yellow to orange and red are available.
Growing Conditions: Medium to bright light; 65-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 18 inches tall and wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. The roots and stems can cause painful mouth, lips, or throat irritation.
Wax Begonia
Wax begonia (Begonia semperflorens) is an easy-to-grow plant with waxy foliage and colorful red, white, or pink flowers. Popular as an outdoor bedding plant, this begonia also does well as an indoor flowering plant and will bloom all year if it has enough light. Simply take cuttings of your plants in the garden for your indoor garden. The cuttings root quickly in water or moist potting soil.
Growing Conditions: Bright light; 65-75°F; keep soil evenly moist
Size: To 18 inches tall or wide
Warning
This plant is toxic to people and pets. The roots and stems can cause painful mouth, lips, or throat irritation.
Bromeliad
Bromeliad (Guzmania lingulata) is usually grown for its colorful red, orange, yellow, or purple flower bracts that look very tropical. This member of the pineapple family has stiff, glossy green, toothed foliage arranged in an upright vase shape. The flowering shoots arise from the center of the leaves. The blooms can last for up to six months.
Growing Conditions: Bright light; 65-80°F, 60-65°F in winter; keep soil moderately dry, but water in the vase
Size: To 3 feet tall and wide
Silver Vase Plant
This pineapple relative's stiff, gray-green leaves are edged with tiny spines and form an upright vase shape. Silver vase plant (Aechmea fasciata) sends up a large cluster of long-lasting pink bracts that bear tiny, short-lived purple flowers. After the bracts fade, new offshoots develop at the base of the mother plant that can be propagated into new indoor flowering plants.
Growing Conditions: Bright light; 65-75°F; pour water into the vase formed by the foliage rather than onto the soil
Size: To 3 feet tall and wide
