Christmas Plants
Posted in Seasonal InterestRosemary 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
How to care for your Rosemary trees?
- 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.
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
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
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