Oh, Christmas! How nice it is to have some quality time with family and friends! Besides the joy of opening many mysterious gifts, we gardeners also dream about other companions. You guessed it! From ravishing flowering plants to alluring fragrant shrubs, there are just too many beauties to choose from. But we are here to help you find out which ones are suitable for your necessities and wishes.
Poinsettia
Surely you have already met Poinsettias. They are the most iconic Christmas plant around the world and you can easily see why. With their lovely festive mixture of green and red leaves, Poinsettias can fill a spot in any room or heart. And they are pretty easy to grow during the holidays if they are loved and cared for.
Poinsettia plants are light-feeders. The more light they are provided with, the brightest their foliage colors become. In winter, these plants do well indoors in a mid-warm location where they can receive enough bright and indirect light. The ideal temperatures for Poinsettias to maintain their flowers as long as possible are 65-75 °F (18-23 °C) during the day and anything above 60 °F (15.5 °C) at night.
Poinsettia plants thrive in loamy, slightly acidic, and well-draining soil. For optimal drainage, the planting pot should have one or more holes in the bottom so the excess water can be drained effectively. During the holidays, these plants love damp and humid conditions. You should be very careful though! If not watered properly, their leaves will turn yellow and start to fall. Make sure you check the soil in-between waterings and do not water again until it feels dry to the touch.
Phalaenopsis Orchid
You might think that orchids are fragile and high-maintenance, but this could not be farther from the truth. With little care, these plants will bloom for months and some species may keep their flowers long after the holiday season. Moreover, their various color palette makes them a perfect choice for your Christmas decor.
Give orchids plenty of bright, indirect sunlight, and rotate them occasionally to ensure healthy and equal growth. During the cloudy winters, these plants can grow just fine under artificial light exposure without any complaints. They are friendly houseplants that are comfortable in average room temperatures but they do not respond well to humidity.
Although their leaves can store some water, Orchids have a low drought-tolerance. Usually, they need watering once a week to keep their soil slightly moist. If you already have an orchid before the onset of winter, you can induce blooming for holidays by feeding it with a blooming fertilizer in fall.
Amaryllis
Amaryllis is a great choice for plant-lovers that want a flowering beauty on their Christmas table. In Greek, its name means “to sparkle” and this portrayal is more than right!
These showy plants bloom in winter, exhibiting lovely trumpet-shaped flowers that can appear in unique blends of red, white, and pink with bands and spots. Amaryllis are pretty easy to grow from bulbs and they will send flower buds after four to six weeks after planting.
All flowering plants need lots of light to grow healthy and amaryllis are no different! These plants love morning sun and bright shade in the afternoon, but they will get floppy if you hide them in a shady corner. When growing them indoors, plant them in a high-quality potting soil mix that has good drainage.
During the flowering period, water your plant when the top two inches (5 cm) of soil feels dry to the touch. To reset the bulbs for future blooms, you need to allow the soil to dry out completely after the final flowering. Once the winter is over, you can move it in a dark area and ignore it completely until November.
If you pay attention to its needs, Amaryllis is a long-time keeper. Some lucky gardeners have merged their lives with these beauties for 75 years. And you can be one of them! Right after you choose between more than 600 varieties that can be found on the market.
Christmas Cactus
Although many would consider cacti quite inappropriate for Christmas, we still love them! And they too deserve a place in our home during the holidays. Just look at how this lazy Christmas cactus brings a vibrant dash of color in the middle of winter. Plus! Like all cacti, they are low-maintenance plants that can tolerate even long periods of neglect.
With minimal care, Christmas cacti will produce beautiful flowers. If you want these cacti to bloom for holidays, you need to force them into dormancy about eight weeks before. Or you can simply buy a nursery-grown specimen with developed blooms to skip the effort.
Christmas cacti are adaptable to almost any environmental conditions. They like locations with diffused light, but they will bloom sporadically when placed near a bright, chilly window. Christmas cacti require humidity, especially during the holidays, when they are stressed-out by indoor heat sources. You can mist these plants regularly to maintain the ideal humidity levels.
Water Christmas cacti thoroughly and remove any excess water that has drained in the tray. Before the next watering, allow the soil to almost dry out. Keep in mind that is always better to under-water a Christmas cactus than to drown it.
Rosemary
Are you pretty low on space or maybe your curious cat is making a real obsession to put the Christmas tree down every year? Say no more! Many growers prefer a regular-sheared Rosemary over other sensitive plants. Rosemary herbs have gained their popularity as Christmas plants thanks to their pyramidal tree-like shape and fresh fragrance. Besides the ornamental purposes, these plants serve as an excellent spice for holiday recipes.
During the holidays, you should not pamper them too much. They can tolerate a wide range of humidity and even high temperatures. Rosemary plants need lots of sunlight, so place your plant at a west-facing or south-facing window where it can receive plenty of bright light. They like to be watered thoroughly, but make sure you allow the soil to dry out in-between waterings.
Rosemary plants can also be kept after holidays with minimal effort. Once the last frost has passed, move your Rosemary outdoors and care for it as usual. To ensure healthy growth, you can feed your plant with a slow-release all-purpose fertilizer once every few months.
Frosty Fern
Look at these adorable tiny plants! Frosty ferns are among the freshest pop-ups in stores during the holidays. But these plants are pretty tricky to care for, as they are not actually ferns and they usually die right after they are taken home. Do not worry! The big secret for thriving Frosty ferns is to provide them with at least 70% humidity. Crazy, huh?
First things first, keep these fern-like plants away from heat sources and use a humidifier to maintain the humidity high. If this is not enough, which might be the case, you can mist your plant frequently to raise the humidity. When it comes to watering though, these plants require damp soil, but they do not appreciate waterlogging.
Frosty ferns are small and need low to medium light, so they do very well in terrariums. They prefer temperatures between 60 and 80 °F (15-27 °C) and will not tolerate extreme conditions like frost or hot climates. As long as you treat it right, your plant will be a nice companion for a long period. Especially during the holidays!
Viburnum Bodnantense ‘Dawn’
If you want to surprise your guests this Christmas, Viburnum Bodnantense ‘Dawn’ might be exactly what you are looking for. These plants are noted for their intense and sweetly fragrant flowers that grow together in cute pinkish clusters. They are perfect for growers that live in areas with warm winters, as Dawn plants are known to bloom there from late autumn to early spring.
These shrubs are full sun or partial shade lovers, but they will bloom better when grown in full sunlight. Although they can survive cool temperatures, Dawn plants do not get along well with extreme freeze. You can place these plants in a sheltered space to protect them from frost.
Dawn plants can be easily grown in all-purpose, well-draining soil. They need regular pruning to maintain a fresh look or you can cut these shrubs back to the ground in spring. Once they are established, Dawn plants become very tolerant of drought and do not need frequent watering.
These strong shrubs will improve the overall atmosphere of your home. Many people are so fascinated by their delicious fragrance that they cut some flowering stems and place them in every room. They can be grown outdoors, of course! But where would be the magic then?
Arnold Promise
Arnold Promise plants are one of the several popular hybrids derived from Chinese witch hazel and Japanese witch hazel. Many gardeners commonly use these plants as landscape fillers, but why not bring them indoors during the holidays?
In autumn, their leaves turn into a lovely yellow-to-orange color and their bright yellow flowers appear in winter while the snow still rests on the ground. Arnold Promise plants will play a big part in your home decoration and like all shrubs, they do not have high demands regarding their environmental conditions.
For both indoor and outdoor growing, make sure you keep your Arnold Promise in a bright location where it can receive at least 4 hours of full sun. These plants do not respond well to shade and they are known to bloom better under sunlight exposure for at least 6 hours. They are hardy shrubs that can survive in temperatures that drop to -10 °F (-23.3 °C), making them an excellent choice for Christmas.
Arnold Promise plants need two or three years to settle in their new growing medium. During this period, you should water your plants frequently to maintain the soil damp. Once they have developed a strong root system, these plants require watering less often in hot or dry situations.
Plant these shrubs in rich, well-draining soil and prune them regularly to maintain the dreamed size and shape. With proper care, Arnold Promise will be your best shrubby friend!
Sarcococca Ruscifolia
These graceful charmers are one of the few shrubs that begin to shine in the middle of winter. Commonly referred to as Christmas Box or Sweet Box, Sarcococca Ruscifolia species are pretty small shrubs that can easily fit into your home and heart.
From December to March, they produce clusters of white flowers that have a vanilla-like perfume. Depending on the cultivar, some shrubs can exhibit purple or red blooms. But they are all low-maintenance plants! Moreover, they can be easily propagated through stem cuttings, so you can make them the perfect gift for your plant-lover friends.
Christmas Box plants are very adaptable to various conditions. They thrive in full shade, as too much bright and direct light can cause faded foliage color. These plants are drought-tolerant and can grow without a problem in any type of well-draining soil. You can ignore these plants for a long time and they will still survive and forgive you afterward. How awesome is that?
Clematis Cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’
Clematis Jingle Bells is a herbaceous climbing plant that produces alluring bell-shaped and creamy-white flowers from December to March. Jingle Bells plants have reached their popularity due to their hardy bloomings that can add an exquisite fragrance to winter mornings. They are great as ornamental houseplants for growers who are looking for a low-maintenance flowering plant to keep them company during the holidays.
Jingle Bells plants can grow pretty tall and messy, so they need regular pruning to maintain their size and shape as wished. These plants grow healthy and produce the most flowers when they are placed in a sunny spot, such as a south or west-facing window.
They do well in any type of soil, from sand and chalk to clay and loam, as long as it is well-drained. For optimal growth, you can add a layer of garden compost or manure, as this will improve drainage. Jingle Bells plants do not require regular watering. They prefer a soil that is neither extremely wet nor dried-out, so you should always check the soil in-between waterings and maintain it slightly moist.
