How To Keep These 8 Holiday Plants Alive
Holiday plants bring a lot of joy during the winter holidays. They are also effortless to keep alive. Here are eight popular holiday plants and the easiest ways to keep your Christmas plant alive.
Indoor plants are not only a great way to add life and color to your home during the holiday season, while also adding oxygen to the air. If you have one of these popular holiday-related indoor plants, here are simple ways to keep them thriving.
Step by Step Guide to Keeping Your Christmas Plant Alive
Poinsettias, Cyclamen, Christmas cactus, Hellebores, Frosty fern, Lemon Cypress, Amaryllis, and Paperwhites are just a few well-known Christmas plants. Here are some tips to keep your Christmas plants healthy and happy all season long!
Creating the Right Indoor Environment
Christmas plants should be kept in a controlled indoor environment suitable for their development. These holiday plants do not want to be near a hot fireplace or next to your heating and cooling vents. A cold, drafty door can also cause stress to your holiday plants. Holiday plants require bright light, but they do not want direct sunlight as this can burn your indoor plants! Choosing a well-lit climate-controlled space for your indoor holiday plants will maximize their happiness.
You should monitor your holiday plants daily to see how they are doing or if water is needed. Indoor plants require a happy medium when it comes to watering. A soggy holiday plant or one that is extremely dry can be equally detrimental to your plants’ health. Also, make sure to pick any dead leaves or spent blooms. These steps will help to ensure your holiday plants are receiving the care they require throughout the holiday season.
Popular Indoor Holiday Plants
Poinsettias
The Most Popular Christmas Plant
The poinsettia is the most popular indoor Christmas plant. Poinsettias are associated with Christmas because The leaves of a poinsettia are like oak leaves. The flowers are usually red, but they can also be white, pink, bicolored, speckled, or green! Bold & beautiful poinsettias need plenty of sunlight!
Cyclamen
Cyclamen are cool-loving plants, meaning they prefer a cooler room in your home. Cyclamen make attractive foliage plants with short, thick stems and heart-shaped leaves with pink, red, purple, or white flowers. These indoor plants can bloom for weeks with little care, water lightly as needed. Cyclamen do not enjoy being too wet, nor do these plants recover well from severe wilt.
Christmas Cactus
The Christmas cactus has dark green leaves with white, pink, red, or yellow flowers. This indoor holiday plant requires little maintenance or special care. Keep the Christmas cactus moist while in bloom but allow the plant to dry out between waterings and when not flowering. Take outside during the growing season to give your plant a chance to grow. You must provide the plant a rest period and then resume regular water and fertilization to trigger the rebloom. If you keep only one-holiday plant this year, make it a Christmas cactus. This cactus blooms every year, is easy to care for, and will thrive a long time with the proper care!
Hellebores
Performing best outdoors, Hellebores start blooming when most other plants lie dormant, brightening gloomy colder months with their nodding, bell-shaped flowers. If you do not have Hellebores in your landscape, they are a lovely addition to your winter pots. Hellebores do not thrive indoors for long periods due to the lack of humidity; however, they can be successfully kept inside for the holiday season. Just keep these holiday plants in a cool, brightly lit area and keep the soil moist all the time.
Frosty Ferns
These adorable tiny white-tipped indoor plants are not ferns as their nickname implies. Frosty ferns are technically a clubmoss or spikemoss with whitish new growth on the tips, hence the “frosty.” Frosty ferns are a popular holiday plant with bright green foliage for the rest of the year. These indoor plants do love humidity; creating a more humid environment by keeping a tray of pebbles with water under them will keep them happy in a dry house. You will also want to keep your Frosty fern moist, but avoid dumping water on top of their foliage and keeping their soil soggy. Whether you have these for the wonderful smell or to use in recipes, these culinary trees are quite the treat!
Lemon Cypress
Lemon or Goldcrest Cypress are evergreens with bright-yellow foliage and a lemon scent. These holiday plants are typically sold as a conical trees or around balled topiary. Lemon Cypress makes beautiful table centerpieces for your holiday. Lemon Cypress care is reasonably low maintenance, as these holiday plants prefer bright light, a cooler spot in your house, and keep moist. Lemon Cypress does not handle dry spells well and may not bounce back from one.
Amaryllis
The beautiful flowers of an Amaryllis are breathtaking. Amaryllis are lush, regal flowers that make a lovely accent for the holiday home, and their bulbs can be regrown each year. Bulbs come in various colors, including reds, pinks, whites, bicolor and green. The flowers of Amaryllis range from large trumpets to double bloomers, spider blooms, petite blooms; so many to choose from. These holiday plants require light but not direct heat exposure. Keep these holiday plants evenly moist during growth and flowering; at other times, allow these plants to dry out between waterings. Amaryllis are easy to grow and make fabulous gifts. They’re also a plant collector’s delight!
After Holiday Care: After flowering, carefully remove the bloom stem. Keep the pot in the sun and continue watering & feeding until the foliage has withered. Rest bulb: keep in the pot, dry it off & store for 8-10 weeks, then begin the cycle again or place the potted plant in a cool (55°) growing area for 8-10 weeks and continue to water; afterward, begin the cycle again.
Paperwhites
Paperwhite Narcissus is a relative of daffodils and jonquils. Paperwhites are easy to grow indoors and produce small, fragrant flowers on 12- to 18-inch stalks. Paperwhites are noted for their pure white blooms and high fragrance. Paperwhites are grown indoors either in a pot with soil or in a vase making this flower an excellent gift for any plant lover.
Here are a few ways to grow Paperwhites:
Growing Paperwhites in water:
- Plant bulbs carefully place a layer of stones or pebbles at a depth of 2″ in a small vase or about 4″ in a larger vase.
- Next, place the Paperwhite bulbs close to each other, roots facing down. Put a few stones or pebbles around and between the bulbs to anchor them in the vase. Leave the tops of the bulbs exposed.
- Finally, add water until the level reaches just below the base of the bulbs, but no higher (if the bases of the bulbs sit in water, they will rot).
Growing Paperwhites in soil:
- Begin by placing the potting mix in a plastic tub. Slowly add water and stir until the mixture is moist but not soggy. Add moistened mix to the accompanying container until it is about 3/4 full.
- Set the bulbs, pointed end up, on top of the mix. Space the bulbs very closely; they should almost touch. Then add more mix, covering the bulbs up to their necks and exposing the tips. Water thoroughly.
Temperature: Set your container or vase in a cool, 50-60°F is ideal, place
Water: Check your bulbs frequently and water thoroughly when the potting mix is dry 1″ below the surface (but not more than once a week until the bulbs begin active growth), or when the water level is more than 1″ below the stones or glass in your vase. Remember to keep a close eye on watering; paperwhite bulbs in active growth can dry out in just a day or two.
Final Thoughts
Christmas is one of the biggest holiday events all year. Flowers play a significant part in the festivities. Stop at Strader’s Garden Center to see our full selection of indoor holiday plants, and we will be happy to answer all of your questions. Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
