Christmas Flower Roundup

So here’s Christmas and with it comes an amazing assortment of flowers; the marketers have done themselves proud this year for sure. So I’m going to take a break from the no-work gardening series to give you the basic how not-to-kill the holiday plant and what to do with it after Christmas article. I’ll pick up the no-work garden next week again.

Let’s run down the list of plants out there and give you the basics you need to know. The most commonly found plant this year has to be the silk poinsettia. There must have been a deal in the silkworm factories because these things are darn near everywhere. I have videos of rows and rows of them. Generally, I’d recommend you use those as outside ornaments; telling all your friends that they’re new hardy varieties guaranteed to live in our climate. Make up something about genetic modification and you’ll be fine with it. After Christmas of course, pull ‘em up or just pop off the blooms and call them an evergreen until the spring bulbs distract the viewers.

Real Poinsettia

Real poinsettia are trifle more finicky than the silk ones; they love to be warm, out of drafts and kept slight damp. Doug’s beginner’s guide to “points” says simply, “avoid extremes”. Keep them out of drafts, keep them from getting too hot or too cold, not too wet, not too dry and you’ll be fine. And above all, not to worry about them. You’re going to toss them into the compost in another three weeks so all you need to do is keep them alive for the next little while and you’re a horti-hero. Now, the only problem comes when the unsuspecting newbie decides they want to keep the darn thing over for next year and get it to bloom again.

At that point, you either have to take it to Mexico where it will grow naturally, or you have to mimic those conditions in your home. That really means keeping them out of drafts, feeding lightly during the winter and then stepping up the feeding in March. As soon as summer arrives, they go outside to grow like weeds all summer. Then you read the detailed instructions on my website on how to get them bloom again. Hint: you don’t put them in a closet. Trust me on this one – it’s a ton easier to buy a new one every year.

Rosemary Plants

Some of you might have rosemary plants trained into Christmas trees. After Christmas, take off the red bow (or not) and give it as much light as you have. Some folks think this plant can dry out but my experience is that you and the plant are going to be much happier if you water it like any other houseplant. Soak it when your finger comes away dry after touching the soil and leave it alone if your finger comes away damp. Keep it a nice and cool though so it won’t get long and leggy with new growth. In the spring, start feeding weekly and repot into a pot one size larger. After all danger of frost, this can go outside (sink the pot into the soil) and grow for the summer. It will become huge and I’d recommend you keep it pruned to whatever shape you like or it will turn into a monster bush. In the fall, bring it indoors and enjoy it.

Forced Bulbs

I’ve seen forced bulbs on the retail shelves as well. Now, those poor daffodils are way out of sync but you can keep them going. Again, water when dry and leave alone when damp. Give them full light and very cool temperatures; in fact, as cool as you can make it for this plant after it has finished blooming. If you get it to spring (after frost) with the leaves still green, simply put it outdoors. If those leaves go brown, let the soil dry out and then dig up the bulbs and replant in the garden in the spring. They may sprout green leaves or may simply sit there. No matter, ignore whatever they do and they’ll bloom the following year. You won’t likely get a repeat blooming from them this spring.

Not-so-forced Cyclamen

I also understand that a few of you received Cyclamen this year; or you should have given the number on the shelves. This is a frost-tender houseplant and will not survive in our climate outside (unlike the Poinsettia ‘Silk-Flowering” form that thrives year round). Cyclamen persicum, the houseplant, will have large, bright pink, red or purple flowers and if you want them to keep flowering, you really have to pay attention here. They have to be kept cool to keep blooming. Keep this plant under 20C(68F) during the day and cooler at night, even as low as 15C (59F) It will be quite happy as low as 7C (45F) . If you let it get warmer, the plant will stop blooming, drop it’s flowers and go dormant. And it will happen relatively quickly and you’ll think you’ve killed it. To add to this plant’s charm, it doesn’t want to be too wet nor too dry. Given a choice of too wet or too dry, it will perform better when slightly dry but, and it’s a huge but, the line is quite fine between just dry enough and killing-dry. So keep the finger going and try to keep it on the dry side of damp. Overwatering and high temperatures are a sure way to put this plant into the compost bin. Don’t worry about feeding it during the Christmas season, you only have to do this if you want to try to bring it to bloom in another year. This plant if watered properly and kept cool will bloom for the longest time of any Christmas plant.

And let me take this moment to wish you all a very happy Christmas season. May the simple gifts of life be yours this coming year.