15 Frost Tolerant Flowers

Frost tolerant flower plants are ideal for bringing some life and color to your garden during the cold winter months.

If you’d like to grow some frost hardy flowers in your garden, you’re sure to find some excellent options on this list of 15 frost resistant flowers.

Some of these flowers are only frost tolerant while they’re seedlings but others will bloom right through the frost and snow.

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frost tolerant flower plants

15 FROST TOLERANT FLOWERS

1. Viola (Viola tricolor var. hortensis)

Violas are beautiful winter flowering annuals that can also be grown as short lived perennials in some climates.

They grow best in partial shade and can tolerate light frosts.

Violas self-seed easily so you’ll have new flowers popping up in the garden each year.

viola flowers in frost

2. Winter Aconite (Eranthus hyemalis)

Winter Aconites are frost hardy flowers that can tolerate cold temperatures.

They can be planted underneath deciduous trees or in a partially shaded spot in the garden.

After a few years Winter aconites will spread out to form a beautiful sea of yellow flowers.

winter aconite flowers

3. Pansy (Viola x wittrockiana)

Pansies are cold hardy annual flowers that can survive frosts.

They come in a range of bright colors and they’re ideal for garden beds or containers.

Plant pansy seeds in late summer for fall and winter flowers.

pansy flowers in frost

4. Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis)

Hyacinths are beautiful flowers that can tolerate freezing temperatures.

The best time to plant hyacinth bulbs is about six weeks before the first hard frost of the season.

Hyacinths look great planted in clumps in the garden or in containers.

You can even force hyacinths to bloom indoors at any time of the year.

hyacinth flowers in frost

5. Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)

Sweet alyssum seedlings can tolerate mild frosts, so you can plant the seeds in early spring even if the weather is still cool.

The flowers can be white, pink or purple and they create a beautiful carpet effect when the seeds are planted close together.

Sweet alyssums are ideal for rockeries or garden beds in front of taller flowers.

Sweet alyssum

6. Snowdrop (Galanthus)

Snowdrops are gorgeous frost hardy flower bulbs with small white bell shaped flowers that appear in late winter or early spring.

They grow best in partial shade with moist, well draining soil.

Snowdrops form clumps that can be divided each year to create more plants.

snowdrop flowers

7. Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Primroses can withstand mild frosts but they don’t do well in extremely cold weather conditions.

While most people think of primroses as spring flowers, they will also bloom during winter in areas with mild winter temperatures.

primrose flowers in frost

8. Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus)

Sweet pea flowers grow best in cool climates and they can tolerate mild frosts.

They’re easy to grow from seed and they’re great for beginner gardeners.

Sweet peas are climbing flowers so they’ll need a trellis, arch or fence to climb up. 

RELATED: How To Grow Sweet Pea Flowers

sweet pea flowers in frost

9. Glory of the Snow (Scilla forbesii)

Glory of The Snow is one of the first flowers to appear after winter and they often pop up through the snow.

They’re easy to care for and come back year after year.

Glory of the Snow bulbs spread out easily and in a few years you can have a carpet of beautiful blue flowers in your garden.

glory of the snow flowers

10. Daffodil (Narcissus)

Daffodils are cheerful yellow flowers that bloom towards the end of winter.

They can tolerate light frosts but extended periods of freezing weather can damage the flowers.

Daffodils look great planted in clumps underneath deciduous trees.

winter blooming bulbs

11. Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

Lily of The Valley are small, white bell-shaped flowers that have a beautiful sweet fragrance.

They grow best in areas with cool winter temperatures and prefer a partially shaded spot.

Important note: All parts of the plants are toxic so avoid planting Lily of the Valley in your garden if you have small children or pets.

lily of the valley flowers

12. Crocus (Crocus sativus)

Crocuses are frost tolerant flowers that grow best in full sun.

They begin blooming towards the end of winter and they’re an excellent source of pollen and nectar for beneficial insects.

Crocus flowers need well draining, gritty soil to prevent the bulbs from rotting.

crocus flowers in frost

13. Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis)

Forget-Me-Nots produce clusters of small flowers that can be blue, purple, pink or white.

They prefer cool weather and will need some afternoon shade in warm climates.

Forget-Me-Nots are prolific self-seeders, so once you plant them in your garden they’ll keep coming up year after year.

The seedlings can withstand light frost so you don’t need to worry if there’s a cold snap in early spring.

forget me not flowers

14. Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)

Snapdragons are beautiful tall annual flowers that can tolerate a light frost.

They come in a variety of bright colors including yellow, pink, red, orange and white.

Snapdragons grow best in cool climates in a position with full sun.

snapdragon flowers

15. Camellia

Camellias are cold hardy flowering shrubs that can survive hard freezes.

They can be used to create a beautiful flowering hedge and they’re fairly easy to care for.

Camellia japonicas bloom from winter until spring, while Camellia sasanquas bloom from summer through until winter. [1]

Camellia

So there are 15 beautiful flowers that are ideal for cool climates and frosty weather.

Planting some of these flowers in your garden means that you can enjoy gorgeous flowers throughout winter and into spring.

RELATED ARTICLES

Which of these frost tolerant flowers do you like best? Let me know in the comments below.

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frost hardy flowers

Kelly Martin

Hi, I'm Kelly Martin, a landscape gardener and designer with over 10 years experience. I have a passion for small space gardening and I love designing and creating beautiful outdoor spaces that maximize the potential of small urban gardens. Read more

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. Cecily

    I live in an area with cold winters and lots of frosts so I’m really happy to find that there are so many frost tolerant flowers. Great article.

  2. Stephanie S

    I have Violas in the garden and yes the seeds spread like crazy. We actually found that they will grow everywhere. We are finding them in our rocks and grass. They are very frost tolerant and one of my favorites.

  3. Britt K

    There are some really pretty options here. I knew about a few of them, like daffodils and snapdragons, but many of the options on this list are new to me. We try to stick with flowers that do a little better in the frost simply because our winters start out so all over the place. We get frost for weeks off and on before winter usually comes around. I am going to try a couple of different options off this list to change things up this coming year.

  4. Lyosha

    Wow! These flowers sound awesome. Still seeing flowers despite harsh conditions outside is a blessing! Love it

  5. This is so useful to know. We have a good few months of the cold weather here, so it’s great to know which flowers are frost tolerant! I will be passing this info on. Thanks!

  6. Morgan Paxton

    This is the list I didn’t know I needed! I’ve always wanted to start a garden but I have a bit of a black thumb and being in Canada frost is always a concern. This seems like a great place to start – at least I will know that an unexpected cold front won’t ruin my gardening experiment! Thank you.

  7. Erica (The Prepping Wife)

    I never realized that you could force hyacinths to bloom indoors. Now I really want to try that! The colors of hyacinths have always been favorites of mine. I haven’t grown anything plant-wise in years, but as I recall from when I was a kid, they weren’t difficult to grow.

  8. Patti

    We had an early spring with several warm days in northern Ohio, which is very rare and I could not resist getting my hands in my small flower garden. Normally we need to wait for end of May but my perennials were sprouting and looked healthy so I purchased a few more plants. Last week, we had 2 inches of snow followed by a frost. I was upset with myself for planting too early and thought the Verbena, English Daisies and Dreameria would be damaged or worse. To my surprise, they all pulled through! I’m guessing it’s seedlings and some veggie plants that should wait until after the last frost.

    1. Kelly Martin

      Hi Patti, that’s great. I’m pleased to hear that your flowers survived the frost and snow.

  9. Lacey lord

    Great article, I recently relocated and you mentioned some of the favorites I had to leave behind. I never knew lily of the valley was toxic. Thanks for the info, the reminder and the new suggestions.

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