Gardeners never give up. The hardy mums outside may be toast, but we’re not finished. We’re setting up festive mini-gardens of holiday plants indoors.
What is a holiday plant? Good question. It can be one named for the season — Christmas Heather (Erica caniculata ‘Christmas Bells’), Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera Bridgesii), Amaryllis ‘Christmas Star.’ Or one whose hues echo the colors of the season like carmine-flowered Flaming Katie (Calanchoe).
“It has an incredible bloom that goes all through the holidays,” says Cindy King, horticulturist at Kingstown Farm, Home and Garden.
A holiday plant can be one that adds sparkle to even the simplest gathering — a tabletop rosemary topiary spangled with little silver balls, a holly standard decked out with gold ribbon. Or it can be a new twist on an old favorite like painted or glitter-dusted poinsettias.
Orchids, once considered strictly for aficionados, have recently entered the pantheon of holiday plants. Scented, with amazingly sculpted blooms in a host of colors and configurations, they can elegantly dress a sideboard or sill. Garden centers now offer a range of potted orchid species. Among them are Cattleyas, (typical corsage orchid), Paphiopedilums (slipper foot orchids), and Phalaenopsis, whose blooms are reminiscent of moth wings.
“Phalaenopsis are easier for the beginner,” notes King. (It’s true. I have little patience with the prima donna nature of high maintenance plants, but I managed to keep a couple of phalaenopsis alive for several years with minimum effort. They even rebloomed.).
A holiday (holy day) plant can also be something that unobtrusively suggests faith — the ostensible reason for the season — like low-maintenance prayer plant (Maranta leuconerura). Or it can even be a forced spring-flowering bulb, symbol of renewal and hope during the darkest time of the year.
CARE
While holiday plants are often treated as disposable – understandable since forced bulbs are usually shot after one forcing — many, like Christmas cactus and other plants that naturally bloom in our winter — will go for years with proper care.
The cactus needs a rest period after it’s done blooming in mid-January. Keep it cool and water it infrequently. Then treat it as a normal houseplant. From June through mid-September, put it outside in a shady spot. Then in early fall, bring it indoors and keep it cool and dry until the buds start to form. Then increase water and temperature until it blooms again.
Many holiday plants are tropical, and need more ambient moisture than the desert dryness that exists in most of our homes in winter. Orchids especially need moisture. One solution is to keep the pot on a bed of watered gravel. Ask for care specifics when you buy any holiday plant.
Local Sources:
Kingstown Farm, Home, and Garden Center
7121 Church Hill Rd.
Chestertown, MD 21620
410-778-1551
Anthony’s Flowers 7200 Church Hill Rd.
Chestertown, MD
410-778-2525
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.