Greengreen. Are you new growing plants indoors?
Although Marigolds and Lantana are beautiful flowering plants, they do better outdoors..

There's many flowering plants that do well inside. Some that bloom year round, others that bud certain seasons.

Cliva...Early spring to mid-summer blooms
African Violets...year round
E. Crown of Thorn..Succulent..year round
Lipstick Plant...blooms early spring-summer
Hibiscus...needs lots of sun..blooms year round
Gardenia...fussy plant, but can bloom year round. (difficult)

There are others, but those listed above come to mind. Toni

The majority of my flowering houseplants are orchids though I do have a couple hoyas in bloom now.

Just a note Lantana do not smell good. They stink to me. LOL

I like Armarylis. You do not have to force them to bloom in Dec if you grow them as a year round plant without the let them dry out they can bloom Dec-April.

I have a heirloom Armarylis that blooms 10 months of the year. I have had it for 30 years. HIPPEASTRUM PUNICEUM

Summer on the patio
{{gwi:70762}}

Winter
{{gwi:70763}}

Hey Jane, how ya doing?? You're right, I should have checked the link.
There's NO comparison! Man-made vs living, breathing, fragrant greens and blooms.

How could I forget Hoyas? Orchid is another great suggestion.

Marquest, I've never seen/heard Amarylis that bloom 10 months out of the year..Good grief. Do you know of a site that sells heirlooms?
The foliage is semi-hidden, is it variegated?
Flowers look a lot like lilies. Are they related?

Beautiful orange blooms..Toni

Toni my Mom gave me the bulb when I started buying house plants. No the leaves are the same as a regular Amarylis not variegated.

It is a blooming fool. The flowers are not as fancy as the hybrids but it is a killer color and a good bloomer.

The reason for the continual bloom is it is constantly making babies as the babies mature at different times they bloom and the mature bulb blooms about 3 times a year. So the pot is constantly blooming because of different maturity of the bulbs in the pot.

If you remind me this summer I will send you a bulb.

greengreen, as a general rule, I wouldn't be too hopeful about using any plants that require a full sun location indoors. Both lantana and marigolds are such plants.

Hopefulauthor (Toni) started a good thread not too long ago discussing this subject and several possible indoor options were mentioned.

thanks for the responses

Toni, i'm not new to houseplants entirely
...tradescantia pallida (purple hearts),
various crassulas, spiders, schlumbergera (x-mas cactus), kalanchoe, some unidentified/untranslated chinese plants (while living in shanghai) zamioculcas zamiifolia ("zz plant"?), peace lilies and there's a happy patchouli in the kitchen now.

i have never started a houseplant from seed.
i'd just like a little more color inside.
i just picked up some mimulus (tigrinus) seeds, which are allegedly shade loving & hope they will do alright inside.

i figured lantana would be a long shot, but somehow thought marigolds could make it in the sunniest window spot.
oh well, i will just start them inside then.

wow Marquest, your amaryllis is so beautiful.
if i get some bulbs when do i pot them? whenever?
i planted narcissus one time indoors to force
blooms during the winter, they didn't do so well
due to recurring bouts of surface molds which
brought gnats or at least it appeared to be such.
i thought the soil was good quality, but i'm afraid
it may have retained too much water(?)
i kept two of the small blooms that came
(dried now ~1" in size)

i'm going to start clock vines on the trellis outside my window, which should add color to the inside once it gets climbing...

could someone kindly (re)direct me to that thread
referred to by Rhizo?

thanks

greengreen, You can plant Amaryllis anytime I just do not like shipping any plants in the winter.

After Christmas you should stop by Lowes and Home Depot they put regular amaryllis on sale real cheap I have 7 of those and picked them up for 1.00.

I like to grow plants that have colorful foliage for color also to have color in the winter. It is something different than just plain green leaves while you wait for flowers.

green, the link is attached below....

Here is a link that might be useful: click here

marquest- thanks for the amaryllis advice, i always see the bulbs,
but honestly, i am overwhelmed by the variety/options
& end up not getting any at all. silly me.

rhizo- thanks for the link.

what about Calceolaria (pocketbook flower/ slipperwort)
as a houseplant?
it's an annual, so i guess it will only bloom once
(are there any exceptions to that rule?)
i've just read that it requires cool temps around
45-50�F/7-10�C at night; 55-60�F/13-16�C during the day
to be at its healthiest.
also that it needs bright light, but not direct sunlight.

what do you think?

Pocketbook plants are probably more difficult than Gardenia! I think the answer is no. I like them though but I think the o.p. should get some practice with a nice reliable Holiday Cactus or go crazy with an African Violet collection or something before getting into difficult annuals. FWIW.

H

Greengreen: I love to grow orchards in my home. All you have to do is provide diffused or indirect light with a pebble tray and you can get an orchid to flower at any time. This one smells like chocolate

{{gwi:13445}}

If you have full sun windows growing citrus can be fun too, They flower and smell so fragrant while provide you with fruit. A couple of pics I took a couple days ago.

{{gwi:70764}}

{{gwi:70765}}

{{gwi:70766}}