What Flowers to Plant in January (Zones 1-10)

When you’re planning on starting a garden, the month of January probably doesn’t come across as a rational idea as a good time to plant. Want to know what flowers to plant in January?

For most flowers, vegetables, and herbs, this is true, but you’d be surprised by what you can still grow throughout the winter based on where you live. 

We aren’t going to lie to you, no matter where you live, planting flowers in January will take more work and careful planning on your part, but it can be done.

Please keep in mind, flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. We need the bees to pollinate our garden, so it’s a win-win! This is why I’m starting my monthly series on planting flowers. This is where I buy my seeds: SeedsNow

What Flowers to Plant in January

You’ll also be able to get a head start for spring and be able to produce more flowers in your garden all throughout the year. Here’s a closer look at what flowers you’ll be able to plant, whether you live in zones 1 or 10. 

Zones 1-5

Zones 1-5 have much colder and longer winters than any other zones, leaving little opportunity for growth. This can be disappointing if you’re a flower lover, but you can always try planting flowers indoors. 

Amaryllis happens to be a flower that blooms nicely, between December and March. You can find bulbs that have been produced all over the world, each yielding and adding more variety and color to your home.

Another winter flower that you can enjoy indoors in January is Paperwhite Narcissus. They look fairly similar to daffodils, adding beautiful and pleasant blossoms to your home. 

What’s neat about this flower, is that its bulb can be forced into blooming, even if it’s not necessarily blooming season for them. In as little as 4 to 6 weeks, you’ll begin noticing white flowers. Paperwhites even enjoy a concentration of 5% alcohol with their water intake to optimize their growth.     

Zone 6

Indoor Planting 

In zone 6, you have a few more options than zones 1-5. You can get an early start on spring by planting pansies, snapdragons, begonia, browallia, and dusty miller indoors under lights. When the weather has warmed up enough, you’ll be able to transplant them.

Outdoor Planting 

As far as planting flowers outdoors in January, tulip and daffodil bulbs are two excellent choices that can handle the colder weather in zone 6. I usually plant mine in the fall here in Southern Utah, but I have planted them in January and it worked out fine.

Zone 7

Living in zone 7 gives you more options, but the weather can be more unpredictable at times. However, January is a great opportunity to get your garden started in the right direction earlier.

For gardeners that live in zones 7-10, they enjoy planting “cool flowers” that are hardy and can handle short periods of freezing temperatures. We’ll mention several of them in our outdoor planting segments.  

Indoor Planting 

Flowers such as coleus and geraniums shouldn’t be introduced to cooler weather so early. Get started with them towards the end of January by planting them indoors. They need a few months to grow and mature before you plan to transplant them. 

Outdoor Planting

When January rolls around directly sow flower seeds like poppies, larkspur, and nigella. These types of flowers can handle the freezing and thawing conditions better than most other varities. 

Zone 8

January is a great month to get your garden going if you live in zone 8. With warmer weather and the lesser likelihood of freezing temperatures, it offers several more possibilities for you and your garden

Outdoor Planting  

Get started with early annual flowers by sowing poppies, pansies, impatiens, larkspur, Nigella and calendula.

Zones 9-10

Here’s for gardeners that live in zones 9 or 10. Oh, the endless possibilities you have as far as planting flowers in January. While most of us across the country are already coveting your weather, we’re also jealous of the flowers that can flourish there during January.   

Indoor Planting 

There’s nothing wrong if you’re wanting to get a head start on summertime flowers, even as early as January. This goes for zinnia, marigolds, sunflowers, and cosmos. It won’t be long from then that you’ll be able to take them outdoors for transplanting. Read all about Marigolds in Gardening

Outdoor Planting 

Planting flowers such as violas and pansies are a good option because they are able to battle surprise freezes, even if it’s for a longer period of time. 

Then there’s petunias, snapdragons, primroses, dianthus, sweet peas, and nasturtiums that can handle cold weather for short periods of time. 

There are also flowers out there that require cooler weather for them to flower properly. Make sure that you get your hollyhocks, foxgloves, and delphinium out early.

Final Word 

Are you surprised by what flowers can survive in your area, even during the month of January? Have you had any other successes in growing flowers in your zone during the month of January?

We’d love to hear about it. These are what flowers to plant in January in Zones 1-10. Please stay well and keep prepping. May God bless this world, Linda

Vegetables to Plant In January

Vegetables to Plant In February

Copyright Images: Paperwhites-Narcissus Depositphotos_331736120_s-2019,Flowers Depositphotos_4824370_s-2019, Amaryliss Flowers Depositphotos_60904659_s-2019, Daffodils Depositphotos_3163747_s-2019, Geraniums Depositphotos_5856658_s-2019, Poppies Depositphotos_4579029_s-2019, Pansies Depositphotos_66197041_xl-2015, Hollyhocks Depositphotos_69318319_s-2019, Marigolds Depositphotos_4014978_s-2019, Snapdragons Depositphotos_9610244_s-2019