Flowers in December

Upon its release, Music & Media named "Flowers in December" their "single of the week" and commented, "David Roback and Hope Sandoval's dreamy acoustics have become even more poppier with gorgeous melodies, plenty of minor chord changes and a delicate violin whispering in the background."^[4] Kristy Barker of Melody Maker picked it as one of the magazine's "single[s] of the week" and stated that it "nearly manage[d]" to "move [her] as much" as Mazzy Star's "Fade into You" and "Blue Flower". She continued, "Strings that sound like sighs back Sandoval's forlorn [voice], but then a great honking mouth organ comes in and spoils it all". She was more positive towards the "Delicatessen-like" "Hair and Skin", noting she "fell in love" with the track, which is "all fuzzy guitars and stop-start minor-chord organ, and Hope, sounding more desolate than ever".^[5]

In a review of Among My Swan, Chris Molanphy of CMJ New Music Monthly commented, "...amid Hope Sandoval's wispy voice and David Roback's plinking guitars, there's a brightness trying to emerge. You hear it in the chimes that ring over "Disappear," and in Sandoval's wistful harmonica on "Flowers in December."^[6] In a 2013 retrospective on the band's career, Emily Mackay of New Musical Express considered the song "lovely but not the album's best moment".^[7]

UK CD1 and 7-inch single^[8][9]

1. "Flowers in December" – 4:56
2. "Tell Your Honey" – 4:31
3. "Hair and Skin" – 3:42

UK CD2^[10]

1. "Flowers in December" – 4:56
2. "Ride It On" (live) – 3:09
3. "Had a Thought" – 2:24

European maxi-CD single^[11]

1. "Flowers in December" – 4:56
2. "Tell Your Honey" – 4:31
3. "Hair and Skin" – 3:42
4. "Ride It On" (live) – 3:09

Mazzy Star

• Hope Sandoval – vocals, harmonica, co-production
• David Roback – guitar, production, engineering
• William Cooper – strings, engineering
• Jill Emery – bass
• Keith Mitchell – drums

Additional personnel

• Dale Everingham – engineering
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering
• Andy Caitlan, John Eagle – sleeve photography