Plants & Gardening
Garden Stories
The Gift That Keeps on Giving: Holiday Plants
Looking for a feel-good, beautiful, reasonably priced gift? Plants are all that and more. Here's a quick guide on which plants to buy鈥攁s a gift or for yourself. If you buy them at a store, wrap them up completely and get them back indoors as soon as you can.
Holiday plants come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Take the beautiful but dreaded poinsettia. It's beautiful because the red, cream, or sparkle-laden plants are dazzling. But it is also dreaded because the plant will drop its leaves in warm and dry air, cold drafts, or direct sunlight. There鈥檚 hope鈥攁nd you need not be a horticulturist to nurture a holiday plant.
Poinsettia
Give it a cool spot out of direct sunlight and keep the soil moist but not soggy. It鈥檚 tricky to keep poinsettias going until spring, but if you鈥檙e game, here鈥檚 how.
Rosemary
Who doesn鈥檛 love a fragrant pot of rosemary, trimmed to look like a miniature spruce tree? Keep it moist but not sopping wet, and give it bright light or a sunny window. And snip some stems for your culinary adventures.
Orchid
Forget to water? No problem. Overwatering orchids kills them faster than underwatering. Place them in a southern or eastern exposure and enjoy several months of bloom.
Christmas Cactus
So much for common names鈥攖hese colorful plants (Schlumbergera spp.) hail from Brazil鈥檚 rainforest. Place them in bright, indirect light. Water thoroughly, letting the soil dry a little between waterings.
Cyclamen
Often called 鈥渢he poor man鈥檚 orchid,鈥 cyclamen (SIKE-la-men) plants like it cool, preferring daytime temperatures around 68 degrees Fahrenheit and down to 50 degrees at night鈥攏ot always easy to do. However, an unheated sunroom, enclosed porch, a bright, cool window or an east or north-facing windowsill will do. Set the plant pot in a bowl of water and let it 鈥渄rink鈥 up the water and then return it to the saucer. Soil should dry out a bit between waterings, but not so much that the leaves begin to wilt.
Amaryllis
Breathtaking, beefy amaryllis blooms鈥攖rumpets of white, cream, red, pink, or multi-colors鈥攑ut on a show for several weeks. Put the plant in a bright, sunny spot and water thoroughly, letting the soil dry a bit between waterings. As each flower fades, remove the flowering stalk. A bonus: you can get it to rebloom next year.
Drop by the Garden Shop for a selection of plants and other holiday gift ideas.