Christmas Plants

Rosemary Trees

Every year I buy one or two rosemary trees, usually at Whole Foods Market. And every year I enjoy them, but can’t keep them much longer than the holiday season. It is usually a case of the unevenness of my watering practices, since they dried out. But I love having these little Christmas-tree-shaped and fragrant plants so much that I get new ones each year, anyway. This year I am going to use one of my large outdoor pots to plant one in, maybe with a trim of variegated ivy at its base. I’m hoping the larger pot will retain the moisture longer without water logging and thus solve my problem of such a short lived plant (although no shorter time span than Poinsettias). The key to some of these Christmas plant is to give them the growing conditions they like- and they are a bit pickier than the usual indoor plant selections.

Whole Foods Rosemary Tree photo by Yusuke Toyoda

• bright light in a sunny exposure
• room temperatures between 63–65°F
• water your plant to keep somewhat moist, but not soggy. Don’t let it dry out completely.
• think about repotting into a larger pot than the one purchased within.

Rosemary Christmas Plant
Keeping Rosemary Happy
Washington Post warnings
Herb Companion advice

Christmas Cactus

These were Grandma’s favorites, which were probably ‘Schlumbergera x. buckleyi‘, and they are plants that can live a long time given care. Succulent type leaves tipped with piñata colored flowers create a festive air, they are more tolerant of the dryness of our indoor heated rooms. Christmas cacti are available in a number of colors and there are three types of plants that bloom around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

How to care for your Schlumbergera?

• bright light in a sunny exposure
• room temperatures between 70 to 80 °F,night temperatures between 55 and 65 °F
• water your plant when dry, likes to be slightly under-watered.
• best when somewhat potbound

Christmas Cactus Plant
Christmas Cactus FAQs
Plant of the Week
Holiday Cacti advice

Norfolk Island Pine

The perfect little Christmas tree is a year ’round houseplant. I had one for many years, its true name is ‘Araucaria Hetrophylla‘, and for most of us it stays a manageable size, but in its own habitat is known to reach 100 feet! It is offered at Christmas time and I used to decorate it with tiny white paper snowflakes that I had made.
What keeps Norfolk Island Pines happy?

• bright light
• room temperatures between 60 to 70 °F
• Keep consistently moist, but not overwatered and waterlogged.
• Loves humidity, so if you have a small mister, give it a spritz of water

Norfolk Island Pine
Norflk Island Pine TLC
Plant of the Week
Bonsai Araucaria advice