Holiday Plants
A Plant for Every Occasion!
I don’t know. Maybe I’m becoming a fuddy-duddy in my old age, but I have a hard time paying premium prices for short-lived plants, like many of them marketed as “holiday”. If I’m going to buy a plant, I want it for way longer than a holiday! Like what, you ask? Amaryllis, gloxinia, poinsettia, Norfolk Island pine, Easter/Thanksgiving/Christmas cacti. I feel sorry for these living things! They’ve been overfed and pampered to get them to market, where they become impulse buys for many. An added issue is that they’re not blooming/performing according to their natural seasons, which you’ll notice, if they live til next year. If we’re going to buy them, let’s give them a chance to live on, and become a happy, more natural plant!
A lot of the reasons for plants dying, is being watered too often, not drained, and using water straight from the faucet. Get a couple gallon jugs and fill them with tap water. Leave the lids off and let them “breathe” for a day or so, before watering. The water will off-gas toxic chemicals, and it’ll be room temperature.
There are some basics that apply to all plants you bring into your house, including these foil-wrapped “walking dead” ones. First, take them out of those sleeves, and sit them in a drip tray. The sleeves are part of the eye-catching impulse buy. Plants have to breathe and drain, so roots need to be free to do so. Don’t sit them in full sunlight, but in a bright, indirect location. If you need something for a window or a dark bathroom, buy fake flowers or use a candle. If it’s being used for a centerpiece, return it to its happy place afterward.
Don’t water without doing the finger test: put your index finger into the soil, a couple knuckles down, and feel. If the soil is cool and damp, the plant doesn’t need water. I like to sit my plants in the bathtub or sink, when it’s time to water. I use the sprayer, on the sink or tub, and give the plant a warm shower, as I water. This washes off the leaves, and may protect the plant from pests, by knocking them off. Let it sit and drain for as long as you can. If you can’t do this, then water sparingly. They don’t need as much in winter, because they’re really trying to rest. When the water runs into the tray, dump the excess after 30 minutes, or so. If the plant is too large to pick up, use a sponge or turkey baster to remove the water. The plant isn’t a dog. It won’t go back for a drink, later. Don’t sit the plant near any door going to the outside, or close to a heat vent. The outside air will chill it, and the vent air will dry it out. A great spot is a cool, brightly lit room, especially for the cacti, amaryllis, and other plants that flush a bloom. The warmer the space they occupy, the faster the bloom is done.
Gloxinia and amaryllis are both bulbs. The faster they flush their bloom, the faster they’ll try to go dormant or just be green leaves. The cacti will as well; remember the above suggestions.
Poinsettias – same as above. Are you one that tries to keep them over? Look up the method to make that happen. Time consuming, aggravating, and it’ll almost never look like it did when you bought it. My suggestion is after the holidays, and it’s beginning to look shabby, add it to the compost. At least it can do some good out there!
Norfolk Island pines are beautiful, and so tempting. I fell for one, years ago, without thinking “this is a tree!”. After several years, it outgrew my house. I tried to give it to every large office I could find, finally taking it to the library. I won’t do that again.
Other things you can do to help your plants be happy are: sit them on a shallow pea-gravel tray, with gravel covered with water. As it evaporates it creates a small humid zone around the plant, offsetting the natural dryness of indoor winter air. Orchids enjoy this, and you can water them with 2 ice cubes a week. Foliage plants benefit from an occasional misting, for the same reason.
What about the outdoor plants, you bought for the “winter charm”? Ornamental cabbages, chrysanthemums, pansies and violas are beautiful and can endure a lot of cold and snow, but a deep freeze will damage leaves and may kill the plants. Don’t plant anything close to where you may use ice-melt or salt, during winter, because the chemicals kill.
Ornamental cabbages should be mulched well, and will do best if planted in full sun. If we have a long warm-up they may bolt (go to seed), and that will need to be snipped off. Yes, they’re edible, but are not very tasty. They’ve been used as garnishes, tho.
Pansies and violas (johnny-jump-ups) are my pick, because they’ll reseed themselves for a new bloom when conditions get right again. When you first plant them, cut off all the blooms and drop them back onto the soil. Each time you dead-head, do this. If there are mature seeds in those old blooms, you’ve just reseeded. This works with most annual bloomers, by the way. Violas are really free-seeders, so you’ll find them in the lawn and other surprising places, in the spring. I love seeing them!
Chrysanthemums, a.k.a. “mums”, are really hardy and long-lived if they’re planted correctly. They tolerate the cold very well. What they don’t tolerate are waterlogged roots. Plant them in full sun, no deeper than the soil that they’re already in, water well, and mulch with pinestraw or leaves. If they make it, you’ll see signs of life in the spring, and then they’ll be good to go. If you want them to not bloom til fall, trim them often to 4”-6”, until the first of July. You should get a good show.
Do you like the dwarf spruce trees, planted in big pots, and decorated? I’ve seen it in lots of gardening idea books, but it’s not a good idea. It’s a TREE! No matter how festive it might look, it’s not good for the plant, and if it’s left in that container for long, it’ll be almost impossible to remove. The roots will be so contorted that the tree probably wouldn’t survive long. I suggest if you want that look, for your front porch decorations, buy an artificial one, and use it over and over.
What about living Christmas trees? A spruce or fir? Not good choices for replanting here. Do you buy ball-and-burlap, or fresh cut? Some facts: a ball-and-burlap tree is usually bought, with replanting in mind. That’s a good aim, but often doesn’t work. That B&B tree left 95% of its roots in the field. Usually they’re brought inside, weeks before Christmas, and lovingly placed into a tub, and mulched, to keep the roots moist. It’s wound with lights, in a warm room, in front of a bright window, so everyone can see the pretty tree. It might stay that way for several weeks, then it’s time to take it outside…right? Nope! It has been in conditions that have probably caused it to break dormancy, and planting it now, will almost certainly result in death. It has to be acclimated gradually, cooling it slowly over several days, so it will hopefully go dormant, and survive. Ideally, it wouldn’t be brought inside until a few days before Christmas, and moved back to a cool garage as soon as possible.
A” fresh-cut” tree, isn’t. They’ve been cut and in cold storage for days. Their cut ends have sealed off, so they need to be cut again, to open pores. As with the “live” tree, it shouldn’t be brought in until a few days before the holiday, and gotten out, soon after. They dry out quickly and become a fire hazard, even if you’re watering the cut. And then there’s the needle drop! Remove all the decorations from it, and repurpose it. You can put it in your pond for fish cover, or cover it with bird treats and lay it in the yard, or take it to a shredding station and make mulch out of it. Again, consider a nice artificial tree, that may be used over and over, and you can leave it up all year, if you wish!
There are many ways to make your home festive, with bright lights, colored cloths, etc., without killing a plant or two. Give it some thought before you fall in love with an impulse buy, that’s alive and will depend on you to keep it so.
Sherrie Ottinger, The Tennessee Dirtgirl
