Pot plants for Christmas

Your attention is probably focussed on the wind today. Mine certainly is and has been all weekend. I hope you did not have too much damage in the garden; my summer house has ‘budged’ but I think everything else is OK.

Despite the awful weather the Festive season is upon us. A traditional part of the season is Christmas pot plants and they are such a lovely way to decorate our homes. They also make a lovely gift and so much more thoughtful than those calorie-filled tubs of chocolates and a bit more environmentally friendly too.

The top choices are poinsettias, cyclamen, azaleas and Christmas cacti though orchids are a good option too, though available all year round.

Of these, some are better for cool rooms, some for warm rooms and some are potentially long-lived and can last much longer than twelfth night!

In all cases it is best to buy from a garden centre like Nags Hall where they will have been cared for properly, away from cold draughts, watered carefully and in prime condition when you buy them.

Poinsettia

These spectacular plants are the best choice for a warm room. They hate cold temperatures and draughts so never buy plants that have been kept outside. The colourful bracts can last for months though if poorly treated the leaves may drop off. At the centre of the rosette of bracts are the true flowers – small and yellow. If possible buy your plants with tight buds in the centre and avoid ‘old’ plants that have ‘scars’ where the flowers have opened and dropped off.

We have the Americans to thank for the Poinsettia at Christmas and this Mexican native plant was popularised by Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US Ambassador to Mexico, in the early 1800s. It had been revered by the Aztecs as a herbal plant but was not enthusiastically embraced by Americans when first introduced but Paul Ecke, a Californian Nurseryman, found a way to tame the weedy shrub in the 1920s and made it our favourite Christmas potplant.

Botanically Euphorbia pulcherrima, it naturally flowers in winter and although many euphorbias are poisonous, the poinsettia is not dangerous in the home. It is best not to let your pets and children eat the plants because they may get stomach ache but compared to many other garden and houseplants poinsettias are not a serious danger.

There is even a Poinsettia Day on December 12th. It commemorates the death of Joel Poinsett who died on that day in 1851.

But back to our plants! Keep them out of draughts on the way home and keep them in a cosy room, out of direct sunlight. Do not place them next to a radiator or heater. If you use them purely as decorations and put them in a dark place such as a fireplace they will not last long, but in the centre of the room they should be happy. Water as they start to dry out and avoid letting them sit in water.

You can keep a poinsettia for many years but they get large and are tricky to get to bloom for Christmas in subsequent years in the home.

You can now get poinsettias with cream, pink and variegated bracts as well as variegated leaves. I love all of these but I always get a bright red poinsettia in the end! Blue bracts have been died and I hate poinsettias covered with glitter – tinsel belongs on the Christmas tree not my poinsettia. But you might like them. The choice is yours.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen are more of a British tradition, made popular in Victorian times. Sometimes called ‘Florists’ cyclamen’ to differentiate them from the hardy, outdoor kinds, these are native to Cyprus and the southern Mediterranean. They are almost hardy and prefer a bright, cool place in the home. They are grown from seed and form a round tuber. The leaves and flowers grow from this. Even when you buy one in bloom it has the potential to produce many more flowers for several months so they are great value and many are fragrant too.

They prefer a bright, fresh, airy place in the home and they are suitable for the window sill. Even cold nights on the windowsill will not harm them, even though it would be the end of a poinsettia! If water gets between the base of the leaves it will cause rot so always water cyclamen from below. You can let the plants get almost dry between waterings. Even if the plant wilts slightly it will recover when watered. But never let the pot sit in water for more than an hour.

When leaves go yellow and flowers fade, remove them by twisting the stems and tugging it from the tuber. Do not cut off the old flowers or the remaining piece of stem will rot.

If lots of leaves go yellow, new flowers open a paler shade and the leaf stalks and flower stems get taller it is a sign that the plant is too warm and dark.

You can keep plants for years. They usually go dormant in summer but not always.

Christmas cacti

These are my favourite festive potplants because they are easy to keep and can get better every year. As I write this I have a five-year old plant in full bloom, 45cm across, next to me but I am sure many of you have much older and bigger plants. These are true cacti but in the wild they grow on trees, rather like orchids. So they withstand drought but like regular watering and some shade.

Buy a plant in bud with a few open flowers and keep it warm and in good light but out of direct sun. Keep it evenly moist. The individual blooms only last about a week but there are usually lots of them.

After flowering, give the plant a ‘rest’. Do not water for a month or so, or give only enough to prevent the pads shrivelling. Then, usually in February, pot into a larger pot, using orchid compost. Water freely and keep the plant watered and fed through summer and it should be bigger and flower well the following winter.

Azaleas

The beautiful azaleas sold at this time of year for potplants are different to our garden azaleas because they are not hardy. But they do prefer cool temperatures and they are perfect for a cool room and a windowsill facing east or north. Always buy them with the buds starting to expand and showing colour. If they dry out, or are too warm while the buds are tiny and brown these buds will not open. These plants dry out extremely quickly so be careful with watering. You can even let them sit in water for a day or two and that is better than letting them dry out. Ideally water with rainwater but this is not critical. In theory you can keep these azaleas to bloom another year but, sadly, most die through drought.

Whatever plants you buy as gifts or for yourself, they should last in perfection for many weeks and give lots of pleasure.

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