Happy Holiday Houseplants

Ring in the season with lush, live plants. They’ll brighten up your holiday decorating, and they’ll extend that season of joy for months to come. 

As you decorate the house for the holidays, don’t forget the plants! The holiday season means lights and packages, but it’s a perfect time to incorporate fresh plants, including holly, pine boughs and berries, into your special decor.

Just because it’s winter, it doesn’t mean you have to forgo the delight of colorful flowers, indoors. And just in time for the holidays, garden centers and markets are offering a palette of blooming plants that will brighten every interior and add to that holiday cheer. Even if you live in a frigid part of the country, you can enjoy lush, festive plants all year.

Most of these holiday plants are already potted and have been forced into bloom, so they’re ready to take center stage on your tabletop or mantle. Once they’ve finished blooming, they continue to provide greenery indoors until you’re ready to plant them outside or maintain them as houseplants. They’re easy to care for, they’re long-lasting and many will be ready to perform again come next holiday season.

So, during the holidays and beyond, bring the outdoors inside with fresh greens and easy-care plants that are sure to brighten those long winter months.

Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi, and S. truncata)

This unusual plant sometimes is called “crab” cactus, an allusion to the distinctive flat, leafless stems that tend to look like a crab’s claw. Despite this odd presentation, the flower that graces each stem is a brilliant and joyful explosion of color from deep magenta to pink. These are not the typical, sun-loving, drought-loving plants we commonly think of as desert cactus. They are epiphytes, meaning they commonly grow on another plant, similar to orchids and bromeliads. They perform well with limited sunlight and enjoy organic soil.    

Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum)

Both the variegated foliage and the unusual flowers of cyclamen are reason to celebrate. Dark green, heart-shaped leaves are intricately painted with patterns of silver and white, so before and after bloom, the plants are uniquely attractive. Butterfly-like flowers sit atop slender stems and emerge in colors ranging from the purest white and pink to deep, rich red.       

Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfendiana)

Not long associated with the holidays, kalanchoe is coming into its own as a Christmas treat. This succulent features dark green, scalloped leaves and very large umbels of flower clusters held proudly above the foliage. Each tiny floret within the cluster has four petals, ranging in colors from yellow and pink to bright red — a Christmas favorite, of course.  Once the flowers appear to be spent, the stems can be pinched back to promote further bloom, prolonging the festive feel throughout the year. 

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

A quintessential symbol of holiday cheer, poinsettia is probably the most common and popular Christmas plant. The “flower” of this classic is actually composed of colorful leaf bracts, ranging from white to deep red. In recent years, creative growers and retailers have offered painted poinsettias — picture blue, purple, gold and even glitter-adorned blooms — but the novelty colors seem to be used best in moderation.

And as for the reputation of poinsettias being toxic? They’re not considered “poisonous,” although the risk of an upset stomach is real, provided a young child or pet happens to chew and swallow the leaves or colored bracts. So if you have curious little ones, it’s best to keep the plants out of reach.  

Shooting star hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Hanabi’)

This stunning lacecap bloomer displays pure white, star-shaped florets, each of which holds an additional star-shaped floret — giving the effect of a shooting star. The blooms remain white for about four to six weeks before maturing to a subtle green. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a temperate climate, you can plant this outside after the holidays and watch it grow to about 5 to 6 feet tall and wide.

Herbs

If you grow your own herbs, either for fragrance or culinary zest, try incorporating them into your holiday display. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a Christmas staple and stores are filled this time of year with topiary selections that resemble miniature potted Christmas trees. After the holidays, pinch a few leaves and add some flavor to stews or dry the leaves and create sachets, and once spring arrives, you can plant it outdoors in more temperate regions.

The scent of lavender (Lavandula species) is a year-round favorite, and a blooming lavender plant offers the beautiful combination of delicate, gray-green foliage topped by purple to blue flowers. Most lavender is best grown outdoors, but as a houseplant, it can last several months inside until you’re ready to add it to the garden.     

Are they poisonous?

Many indoor plants are reputed to be toxic and that includes several of those traditionally used around the holidays. Some plants carry toxins in their leaves, some in their flowers, still others throughout the entire plant.

Poinsettia has long had a reputation for being highly poisonous, but research has determined that the risk is overstated. Its leaves contain an irritating sap that can cause oral and stomach discomfort, but rarely does a pet or child ingest enough to suffer grave effects.

Other plants that are popular for the holidays, however, also are known to contain toxins. Holly and mistletoe, as well as amaryllis, carry substances that can cause gastrointestinal issues, breathing problems and possible decrease in blood pressure.

These are not reasons to forgo the joy of holiday decorating with colorful indoor plants. These are reasons to take care with the placement of your plants and to monitor your children’s and pets’ curiosity.

Responsible care and maintenance will help everyone enjoy a festive — and plant-lush — holiday season.

Force those bulbs!

If you haven’t already started to force some bulbs for those long, dark days between the holidays and spring, now’s the time to start.

Amaryllis and paperwhites are the go-to selections for the holidays, and the potted bulbs you buy today at local garden centers are already well on their way toward a brilliant bloom by Christmas – but don’t delay! For the best selection and the freshest bulbs, buy early and get them out of the box and onto your window sill.

Thinking ahead to spring, you can start other bulbs now and look forward to enjoying the colorful early blooms in a couple of months. Good candidates include tulip and hyacinth, the fragrance of which signals a bright new season.