Try these blooms for a midwinter pick-me-up

During the winter, I find flowering plants and cut flowers inside the home to be uplifting. Among the many options available, potted flowering plants stand out for their long-lasting blooms and excellent value.

Kalanchoes are small, vibrant plants that brighten the colder months with stunning colors, such as yellow, orange, pink, red and white. These succulents, like cacti, should never be overwatered, and are commercially propagated to bloom during winter.

Kalanchoes will bloom for a long time, especially if the plant you purchase has lots of buds and fewer open flowers. They prefer bright light, sparse watering and no fertilizer while in bloom. Because they are succulents, there is no need to provide extra humidity.

If you want to try to get your kalanchoe to flower again then cut off the flower stalks after all the flowers have dried. Move the plant to a shadier window and reduce watering to encourage dormancy. After two months, when new buds appear, move the plant back into bright light, resume watering and fertilize twice a month with a diluted balanced fertilizer. You can move the plant outside to a part-sun location in early summer and bring it back inside as night temperatures begin to drop below 40 degrees. Use a cactus blend mix if the plant needs to be repotted.

Winter care for trees, shrubs

While kalanchoes can bring life and color indoors during the winter, it’s equally important to care for the plants and trees outside your home.

If tree or shrub branches become covered with ice, let the ice melt naturally rather than trying to break it off. It is easy to tear off evergreen foliage as you remove frozen snow. If large evergreen branches are anchored to the ground with snow, gently sweep off any loose snow with a soft broom and then elevate the tree branch from underneath unless there is a lot of weight on the branch. Using tools like a shovel risks damaging the tree bark. Evergreens that are bent over may be able to be straightened when temperatures warm and the snow and ice melt.

Keep an eye on your garden for signs of animal damage, especially during periods without snow when there are no tracks to reveal their presence. If left unnoticed, significant damage can occur in the middle of winter. During heavy snowfall, rising snow levels allow rabbits to reach higher up into shrubs, increasing the risk of harm.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.