In my yard it is Yesterday, today, tomorrow but you would have to check if that grows in zone 9.

Camelia was the first winter bloomer I thought of. I think it really depends on your location.

Purple firespike blooms in winter

Gardenia and Magnolia aren't they early in the year? and I have buds on my white powderpuff and the dombeyas. Blooms in winter are also the annuals from up north, like pansies, petunias, etc.

Evelyn

Camellia sasanqua starts blooming in late Autumn and continues into the Winter months.

Some azaleas start blooming in Jan/Feb.

Violas! I know they're just annuals but I just love them. They come in a wide variety of colors. And by the time they start dying other plants have started growing and blooming.

Another is Dianthus which blooms nearly year round and usually lasts several years before you have to replace them. I usually grow them in large flower pots.

Your best bets are going to be camellia, pansies (they'll survive a freeze very cheerfully), petunias, geraniums, snapdragons, panama rose (a pink-blooming, fragrant shrub that looks like pentas but hardier IMHO), purple firespike, dipladenia (a container gardener's dream--susceptible to nematodes in the ground--I grow this instead of mandevilla), nemesia, wax begonias, impatiens (but very thirsty)...

those are some plants that come to mind now :)

Oh I love the annuals. Didn't even think of them when I responded earlier. Last November I planted red geraniums and white petunias in a north facing flower bed that receives very little sun. They are just now to the point that I will remove them and put in new. They looked great all last winter and actually looked pretty good most of this summer.

I just re-planted a bed that gets dappled sun thru the winter. I have purple/pink muhly grass, mauvey (that a word?) pansies and diamond frost. The combo looks fab! I think it will look great until at least next summer. I'm not sure about the diamond frost as I've not had any experience with it before. Reminds me of the baby's breath I had everywhere up north. Hope it doesn't take over like BB can.

~Betsy

My prettiest winter bloom has to be the red powderpuff - not the dwarf, but the one with full almost tennis ball size blooms. Here is a little info on this one.

Ginny

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Powderpuff