Create some WINTER SPARKLE

Bring the garden indoors with beautiful blooms and heady scent, says Wendy Humphries

- Wendy Humphries

As the days get shorter and our attentions turn to the indoors, we can look forward to a brighter few months courtesy of the most exciting and fragrant indoor plants.

House plants are enjoying a revival right now and the key to keeping displays fresh is to include as wide a mix of flowering plants as possible.

A sophisticated ambience can be created during cold winter evenings using white flowers surrounded by candles and string lights. Look to stephanotis, with its white trumpets and wonderful fragrance, and gardenia with its double white flowers that stand out beautifully against the glossy dark green leaves.

With the festive season just around the corner, choose jolly single pots of cyclamen, paperwhites and azaleas to dress a cool porch or unheated conservatory. Jasminum polyanthum flowers from winter to spring and requires a cooler temperature from 3-15C to give the best flowers.

For a warmer spot, both moth orchid (phalaenopsis) and Christmas cactus are great value, long-lived plants that require very little effort. The Chinese hibiscus (H. rosa-sinensis) will bear exotic red or white flowers if given a warm, south-facing windowsill.