• Ask the average gardener about plants that flower indoors and he or she will probably smirk and tell you to buy a spray of silk flowers and stick them into your spider plant. However, you can have the last laugh. There are easy-to-care-for plants that flower indoors with not much more required than a reasonably bright window and the occasional watering. You'll have mouths agape in awe at your green thumb.
  
  

Christmas Cactus

• The schlumbergera is commonly called the Christmas cactus, although it can bloom as early as the end of November and as late as March. A member of the cactus family, it produces lovely white, pink or red tropical-looking blooms at the end of each trailing leggy branch. It can manage in low light, although it requires bright light to really flower. Most people buy it when the buds have already begun to appear at the end of each branch. If that's the case, try not to disturb it overly much when taking it home and don't move it around inside or the buds will drop without opening. Find it a nice bright cool window. If you have an unheated room in winter, keep it there in bright light for several weeks, protecting it if temperatures fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it dry between waterings. That will encourage bud formation for a winter display of glorious flowers.
  
  

African Violets

• If there's a "Flowering Plants for Dummies," African violets would no doubt appear in Chapter 1. They sport large, fuzzy dark green leaves with attractive violet-like flowers in pinks and purples. They do need bright direct light, but can't handle more than four hours of direct sun per day. The key is to remember not to get the leaves wet. Always water by filling the catch basin beneath the pot and allowing the water to soak slowly upward into the soil until the surface feels damp. Then drain any remaining water. This and a bit of fertilizer every other month will be sufficient to keep them blooming year-round.
  
  

Kalanchoe

• The kalanchoe plant is an indoor gardener's dream. Incredibly easy to grow, it can flower for months on end. It has glossy, dark green leaves and produces clusters of tiny star-like flowers in reds, oranges and yellows. Place near a bright window but not in direct sunlight. Water when dry to the touch and don't overwater or let the soil become too wet. However, the kalanchoe is actually very easy to propagate in water. Break off a few leaves and submerge the cut part in water. Within days roots will begin to sprout. Kalanchoe can actually be left to grow in water. Deadhead dying blooms to encourage new blooms to sprout.