GARDEN Decorating with Holiday Plants

GARDENING House Plants Make Your Holidays Shine

BY KARLA A. DALLEY

What a year! This year the holidays, like almost everything else we have done, will be different. Perhaps we will be celebrating with family and friends via Zoom™ or some other video app. Perhaps our families have changed in ways we would prefer not to think about and so our celebrations will be muted.

However we choose to celebrate, one thing that will make our holidays special is the presence of plants. This is the one time of year that I definitely have more holiday plants in my home, and I know that I will be decorating earlier this year as a way to blunt some of what’s happened around us.

At the holidays, the stores bring out lots more plants and among them are poinsettias and “Christmas” cactus (or zygo cactus, technically schlumbergera, and not cactus at all). Poinsettias have expanded their color palette beyond red: there are many shades of white and cream, some even verging on yellow, and many shades of pink, from pale pink to almost fuchsia. If you like traditional red, there are glorious hues to choose from, from “traditional” red to crimson. There are also speckled varieties.

But what about untraditional plants? By now, phalaenopsis orchids (the moth orchids) are everywhere, so no one thinks of those at the holidays. But they make great holiday plants. They are easy care, take lower light than other plants, and bloom for months. And they are very affordable, so you can buy several orchids just as easily as several large poinsettias.

If you have a sunny window, anthurium make great holiday house plants. If the name is unfamiliar, it’s likely you still know the plant: It has heart-shaped green leaves and large, leathery, heart-shaped flowers that can be red, white or pink. The plant is truly tropical, so it prefers a warmer home. It will survive in lower light, but it won’t bloom as often.

If your home has lower light and you would still like to have blooming plants, the peace lily (spathiphyllum) is always a good choice. This is a plant everyone knows—dark green sword-shaped leaves and white flowers. There are several varieties, some with large leaves and some dwarf. While you may think that this is far too “common” a plant to include in your home (since it is a staple of dish gardens), consider that it is one of the best plants for ridding the air of indoor pollutants. As we all shelter in our homes in the winter, a few plants that clean the air are always welcome! Add a few white fairy lights and the effect is very festive, even in low light!

Another great blooming plant for low light situations that people don’t usually consider at the holidays are the “nonstop” and tuberous begonias. These are readily available year round, come in colors that range from white, yellow, peach, salmon, pink, rose and red and look like small double roses. And they truly do bloom “non-stop,” or at least for several months at a time. A blooming plant will likely continue to bloom through winter. I gave one as a gift last January and it bloomed until August.

The final non-traditional option is aglaonema. This is another plant that you have likely seen and perhaps not known its botanical name. Breeders have done a lot of work with these plants so what was once a workhorse of a plant with dark green leaves is now grouping of plants with leaves splashed with different colors. I have been known to refer to these as the “un-poinsettias,” because they can be used at the holidays in the same way but—in my cool house they much prefer the climate.

Aglaonemas can be found easily in most garden centers. There are varieties with red and green leaves, red and pink leaves, and many varieties with green and white leaves, including one that has so much white that the green is hardly visible. If white is your holiday decorating scheme, these plants are fabulous—and they will last for years and purify the air in your home as well. This plant is a winner!

With everything that has gone on in 2020, the holidays might not feel as festive this year. We can change that—and plants can make that happen!

Karla Dalley is a garden writer and speaker from West Hartford. kdalley@comcast.net. gardendaze.wordpress.com

Photo courtesy of the Olive Gypsy Boutique, by ADRIANA LAJOIE PHOTOGRAPHY