GARDEN
Potted Gift Plants Keeping Holiday Plants Looking Their Best Into The New Year
A by Karla A. Dalley
s the song keeps reminding us, ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year!’ And certainly the time from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day is a time to celebrate with family and friends. A great way to bring on the holiday season is to bring ‘gift’ or ‘seasonal’ plants into our homes. With very little extra work, these plants can actually become lovely additions to our homes year-round. You simply need to know what conditions these plants like and make sure they have it. Poinsettias are the biggest sellers in November and December, in fact, they are the most popular houseplant. Because it is native to Mexico, however, it is sensitive to cold, and unfortunately, we buy them in cold weather. When you purchase them, make sure they are wrapped before taking them from the garden center or florist. Exposure to cold will shorten the life of those colorful bracts (what we think of as ‘flowers’ are actually colorful leaf bracts). Because of their sensitivity, these plants cannot be left in
the car for a few more holiday errands. And once the plant is home, make sure it is not in a drafty place or too near a heat source. If these plants sound demanding, just remember that they are really outdoor tropical shrubs and we’re trying to grow them as houseplants. To keep these plants happy, keep them in bright light and evenly moist. Do this and these plants will retain those brightly colored leaves for quite some time…often right into spring. Poinsettias will re-bloom naturally if they are kept in an out of the way place in a cooler room. Try to avoid turning on the lights in that room at night. In the beginning of December, the poinsettia bracts will naturally turn red. Although the plants will not be quite as lush as the ones in the garden centers, there’s a pleasure in knowing how to make a poinsettia re-bloom! Another holiday plant some have trouble with is the poorly named Christmas Cactus. For one thing, the genus schlumbergera is neither a cactus nor does it naturally bloom at Christmas. It is a succulent, which means it needs a little more water than a cactus. They are native to Brazil, and there, they grow in humid, shady regions in the trees. Our homes are nothing like this so that is why when we take them from a greenhouse they might lose some of their buds. Once home, they are easy to care for if we remember two things: these plants should not dry out completely (they are not cacti), and they should be kept in a shady window. They can be very long-lived, some folks have them for decades. And in the following years they set their buds in relation to day length and temperature so again, a darker, cooler window is better if you want them to bloom earlier, or a brighter, (but not sunny) warmer one is better if you
want them to bloom later. Some people don’t decorate with poinsettias or Christmas cacti. There are still many plants available this time of year to enhance the home. Nothing dresses up a table like a phalaenopsis, or moth orchid. This is the second most popular house-plant, and it’s easy to see why. It comes in a lovely variety of pastel colors and will bloom for months. Phalaenopsis are also tough plants, as is obvious by the fact that they are sold everywhere, often right by the drafty front doors of big box stores. They do not need direct light and they usually only need water once a week, depending on how warm the home is. They will re-bloom easily too. Care is simple. In the summer, put them outside around Memorial Day in a shady spot. Bring them back inside around Labor Day. You’ll find that a new bud spike has formed by then. It’s that simple. A few other choices for holiday plants can be cyclamen, a bulb-like plant that prefers cool conditions and likes to be watered from the bottom. Norfolk Island Pine, a very longlived houseplant, as long as it doesn’t get too dry, and stephanotis, a fragrant vine with white waxy flowers. Plants brighten our homes during the dark winter months and with a minimum of care, ‘gift-plants’ need not be disposed of with the wrapping paper. They can remain well into the New Year to bring even more warmth and cheer! n
Karla Dalley is a garden writer and speaker from West Hartford. kdalley@comcast.net. gardendaze.wordpress.com