GARDENING

BY KARLA A. DALLEY

It’s been a difficult couple of years and I hope that I offend no one when I say that I am ready to welcome in the upcoming holiday season with joy. Like many of you, I have experienced loss and illness. I understand if you are not quite as ready as I am to put that behind you.

Let me offer a variety of suggestions for ways to fill your homes with plants for the holidays. This way you can choose to ease back into the holidays or to celebrate them in more lavish ways if you are feeling ready to do that.

Let’s start out small because it may take some acclimating to the idea of celebrating the holidays. If that is the case, perhaps a single plant might be a nice was to ease into things—but not a green plant. There are so many flowering plants available this time of year—treat yourself to one of those, and do so at a garden center so that you understand its care and what its needs are through the holidays.

What might I suggest? For an easier plant, a holiday cactus is so pretty and almost fool-proof so long as you don’t over-water. It will bloom reliably for you every year, and do so in relatively low light.

Non-stop begonias are also a great choice, will bloom for months and prefer to be kept on the dry side, like the holiday cactus. They also don’t need a sunny window, but can take some brighter light it you have it.

If the thought of flowering plants appeals to you, perhaps you are ready to make a small holiday arrangement with a few house plants. A white begonia might look pretty with a trailing plant or two. Something that looks fresh and festive are brightly colored pothos—either ‘Neon,’ which is a chartreuse green, or the marbled variety, which is green and white. This is simple and easy to maintain and will look good once the holidays are over as well.

Another house plant that blooms forever (well, almost) is kalanchoe. These come in several colors so you can even do an arrangement for Thanksgiving with yellow and orange kalanchoe and some greenery of your choice (or perhaps some pumpkins and gourds).

For Christmas or Hanukkah, or other winter holidays that you celebrate, the plants also come in white and red. They’re quite versatile. For Christmas, choose a red plant or two and mix in some green houseplants—or even green and white ones—small peace lilies, dracaena, Chinese evergreens, or diffenbachia.

For Hanukkah, or perhaps New Year’s, use a white plant or two and stick with lighter plants—the diffenbachia, which has white in its leaves, for example. If you can find it, try that lovely lacy euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ or ‘Diamond Snow.’

If you’re feeling more adventurous, try something outdoors. Many of the garden centers will be highlighting plants that look festive and “holiday-like” right at their entrances or in their greenhouses.

A small evergreen plant that is a holiday decoration all on its own is gaultheria procumbens, which goes by the common name of wintergreen. It’s a native plant, and has small glossy green leaves and bright red berries. It doesn’t get more festive than that! And it’s hardy for us so no worries about protecting it from the cold.

Something that makes a less “Christmas like” outdoor planting are the true dwarf conifers that you might find at some garden centers. These come in colors of yellow, blue and bronze, as well as the traditional green, of course. Their shapes can be round, mounding trailing or conical. Plant several colors and shapes in a low concrete planter or other weather-proof container and you will have something interesting and unusual for the holidays and beyond.

Finally, hellebores (often called Lenten or Christmas roses) are often sold this time of year. They make lovely blooming plants and their foliage is often as interesting — or more interesting —t han their flowers. I have used the cut foliage of mine in indoor evergreen arrangements several years in a row and it makes very nice cut flower filler as well.

Plants and nature have long been used to soothe feelings and restore our wounded selves. With winter coming to our state, bring a little of that healing into your home and your life.

As an aside, you may have noticed that this is the 20th anniversary edition of We-Ha magazine. This is also my 20th year of writing for the magazine — I have been writing for them since the first issue. So, we are celebrating our anniversary together. Much continued success to WeHa magazine!

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