This edition of People, Places & Plants magazine, now out on newsstands and in subscribers’ mailboxes, contains an article that details the honest truth about five of the most popular indoor holiday plants: holiday cactus; gloxinias; azaleas; poinsettias and bromeliads. Before you plunk down your hard-earned cash at your local garden center, read the article. It may save you some frustration later on.
As a bonus, I dusted off some information about several other plants that are part of many holiday celebrations. They all have their merits . . .
Cyclamen — In white, red, lavender and pink, these members of the primrose family are one of the most prolific flowering plants for indoors. If you can keep your cyclamen in a bright room with cool evening temperatures between 50 and 60, with daytime temperatures at about 70, the plant may flower for several months.
After flowering, gradually withhold water until the foliage dies off. During this rest period, don’t water for six to eight weeks.
In the late spring and summer, you can move the pots into an area with little direct light. Cyclamen needs continually moist soil and won’t react well if it is allowed to wilt between waterings. Don’t keep the plant in standing water, though, and fertilize regularly while the new leaves form. Move the plants into more sunlight by early autumn and, with any luck, the plants will rebloom by the next holiday season.
Orchids — Many types of orchids work well as holiday decorations. Possibly the best and easiest to keep healthy is Cattleya trianea that blooms in white, pink or red.
If you purchase a new plant around the holidays, keep it in full sun at home through March. After that, indirect light will be best. Keep the area as humid as possible by setting the plant in a plastic or metal tray that has been filled to a depth of an inch or more with perlite or pebbles covered in water — but don’t let the roots of the orchid stand in water.
Amaryllis — This South African native is perhaps the most spectacular flowering plant for the holidays, coming in an assortment of vivid shades. It’s easy to bring to bloom simply by bringing the large bulb home and giving it water and a minimal amount of sun.
Getting the Amaryllis, Hippeastrum spp., to bloom in subsequent years will be the payback you’re looking for on a substantial investment. When the flowers are finished blooming, keep the pot in a sunny location, and continue to provide water and food throughout the spring and summer until the foliage dies back. You can event take the pot outside for the summer.
When the foliage is yellow or brown, cut it back and store the bulb in a cool, dry place with no water or sunlight.
After a month or three, repot the bulb in fresh potting mix, then water and feed it with bone meal or a fertilizer rich in phosphorus. Before long, the long stems should emerge from the soil and, with any luck, a spectacular bloom in time for next year.
Cape primrose — Another close cousin to the African violet, the Cape primrose, Streptocarpus spp., is easier to grow than gloxinia and the horn-shaped blooms are almost as large and more plentiful.
The good growers tell me a really light soil mix is key; purchase African violet mix and you can’t go wrong. Otherwise, grow your Cape primrose the same way you would a gloxinia or African violet, with moderate light and household temperatures. Avoid watering the foliage and keep constant moisture below the plant.
These will rebloom; in fact, if they’re really happy in the right soil mix, they’ll bloom indefinitely. If you can’t get them to bloom, always think first of the soil.
Kalanchoe — If you keep your home warm and want a holiday houseplant to thrive, this may be your choice. Kalanchoe, a native of Madagascar, will even forgive you for missing a watering, or two.
With rubbery textured leaves and glossy flowers, the plant can even look fake from a distance. I know I’ve pinched a few just to be sure.
As a houseplant in our climate, kalanchoe is oblivious to the seasons. When the flowers first die back, give the plant a rest period with reduced water, fertilizer and light. Unless it is too cold, it will likely begin to form new leaves and flower buds every other month or so. True kalanchoe afficionadoes will carefully monitor light levels during the rest period. The plant will reportedly put out bigger and more blossoms if light is limited to eight hours a day — with 16 hours in a closet — until flowering begins.
Reiger begonia — In the garden center, this is always a tempting plant for the holidays. Healthy specimens will literally be covered with red, orange, pink or white blossoms. With glossy leaves, it can make a spectacular centerpiece all on its own.
In my experience, though, they’re far more challenging in the home environment where they’ll react negatively to cool drafts, intense direct light when in bloom or the heat of a nearby furnace. They also like more humidity than can be found in most homes in winter, but this can be overcome by placing the plant atop a bed of pebbles and water — but don’t try to grow your Reiger in standing water.
The good news is that if you like these begonias, they’re rarely expensive. Purchasing a pot or two just for the holidays isn’t such a bad deal.
Chenile — Also known as red-hot cattail, or Acalypha hispida, this plant is among the most exotic of all houseplants. Nothing is more luxuriant that a chenille in full bloom, with cascading bright red “cattails” that resemble soft bottle brushes.
Think twice, though, before plunking down the $15 to $40 to bring a prime specimen home. These are difficult to grow in the typically dry home environment and, without the moisture available in a greenhouse setting, they will tend to drop their blossoms quickly.
Keep moisture under the pot, just as you would with begonias or orchids, but don’t put the plant in standing water.
“Don’t ever let the plant get cold,” said Ken Ellis of Sunset Greenhouses in Fairfield, Maine. “Give it as much sun as possible in the winter and at least half a day in the summer.”
Christmas peppers — A relatively new addition to the offerings of holiday plants, these “hot” peppers are the same members of the Capsicum annuum species that we use as ornamental peppers in the outdoor garden. In our climate, these peppers often need the later days of autumn and early winter to bear fruit anyway, so many people grow them in containers. Bringing them indoors for the holidays makes perfect sense.
They’re annuals, so you don’t need to fret about keeping them alive for a second season — just plant new ones next year. If you purchase full-grown plants at the garden center this winter, you’ll probably want to toss them out as soon as the fruit drops off.
One note about these: most of the species of hot peppers are really, really hot and not in the edible category. Eating the fruit can be especially irritable to young children.
Paul Tukey - November 22, 2005.
