African Violet
African violets are among the easiest to grow flowering houseplants. They bloom year-round with little effort.
Choose from hundreds of varieties and forms, some with variegated foliage or ruffled or white-edged blooms.
African violet likes warm conditions and filtered sunlight. Avoid getting water on the fuzzy leaves; cold water causes unsightly brown spots.
Hibiscus
Tropical hibiscus is the ultimate plant for creating a touch of the tropics.
It forms huge blooms, up to 8 inches in diameter, on a shrubby upright plant that you can train to grow as a tree.
Individual blossoms last only a day or two, but plants bloom freely from late spring through fall and occasionally through winter.
Keep the soil uniformly moist and give the plant as much indoor light as possible to keep it blooming.
Flowering Maple
Crepe-paper-like blooms in shades of red, pink, orange, or yellow dangle among leaves like festive lanterns.
Many varieties have splotched or variegated foliage for extra interest.
Grow the plant upright as a tree, prune it back to keep it shrubby, or even grow it in a hanging basket. Its common name comes from the leaves, which resemble those of a maple tree.
Oxalis
Oxalis bears triangular, clover-like purple leaves and an almost constant show of pink or white blooms.
Look for varieties that have plain green foliage with or without silvery accents.
Oxalis grows from small bulbils in the soil; you can divide these any time the plant becomes crowded in its pot.
Peace Lily
Peace lily is an easy-care plant that tolerates low light and low humidity. Flowers consist of a showy spoon-shape white spathe and spike of creamy white flowers.
Bloom is heaviest in summer, but many varieties bloom throughout the year. The glossy, lance-shape leaves are attractive even when the plant has no blooms.
Anthurium
Anthuriums bloom in festive shades of pink, red, lavender, or white, and last for two months or more. They also make a long-lasting cut flower if you can bear to cut them.
Anthurium needs medium to bright light to bloom well, but can be grown as a foliage plant with less light.
Jasmine
There are many types of jasmine. Many-flowered jasmine, polyanthum and Arabian jasmine are two of the easiest to grow; just give them plenty of light and moisture.
They'll all bear fragrant pink to white blooms on vining plants.
Kaffir Lily
Kaffir lily is also commonly called clivia. As a houseplant it usually blooms in winter with clusters of up to 20 reddish orange or yellow tubular flowers.
Clivia blooms only when it has been exposed to cool, dry conditions, so give it lower temperatures in winter and keep it on the dry side.
With its deep green straplike leaves aligned in a single plane, the plant is attractive even when not in bloom.
Streptocarpus
Also called Cape primrose, streptocarpus blooms almost continuously if given the right conditions.
Most of the hundreds of hybrid varieties available bear trusses of pink, white, purple, or red flowers, often with contrasting white or yellow throats.
With the exception of providing cooler winter temperatures, treat it as you would its cousin, African violet.
Calamondin Orange
This hybrid between mandarin orange and kumquat bears fragrant white blossoms in late winter or spring.
The wonderfully fragrant 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.