August Home-Garden

Garden Gate Holiday Gift Plants

A Gift for Growing: Plants offer a natural alternative for holiday shoppers.

Christmas gifts were much more simple in the old days. After all, you couldn't go wrong with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Today's choices are certainly greater in number but, if you ask me, sometimes lacking in warmth and meaning. Not so with gift plants. They're personal. They're natural. And they're alive. Sure beats the heck out of a toaster (probably cheaper, too)!

You can grow bulbs in attractive containers, then tie a colorful ribbon around the plants and give them away. Or make it easy on yourself and buy a potted plant that's already in bloom. Either way, you've got the makings of a hit. Here are a few popular gift plants along with some tips on taking care of them (just in case you're on the receiving end of the deal).

Amaryllis

Do you know someone who's dreading the gray days of winter? Give them an amaryllis. Better yet, give them an amaryllis bulb. It will put forth large, exotic blooms 5 to 6 weeks after planting -- for a colorful gift plant that also happens to coincide with the dead of winter!

If you're potting your own amaryllis, let the bottom of the bulb and roots soak overnight in lukewarm water. Plant the bulb in a pot just large enough to hold it and leave the neck of the bulb above the soil surface. Fill in with equal amounts of damp sand, peat moss and soil, then tamp down to remove air pockets.

Place the pot in a warm (around 70 degrees) spot that is shaded from direct sunlight. Water sparingly until top growth begins, then keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. When top growth reaches 6 to 8 in., move the amaryllis to a cooler location.

After flowering has run its course, remove spent blooms and continue to water the plant. Start fertilizing every three weeks. Set the pot in the ground outdoors after the last spring frost and bring it back indoors in the early fall. Stop watering the plant when the leaves begin to turn yellow. Remove the dying foliage and let the bulb "rest" indoors for two to three months. When buds appear, change the top 2 in. of soil and start the whole process over again.

Poinsettias

Traditional Christmas decor without poinsettia plants is like a Green Bay Packers fan without a "cheese hat." The classic red poinsettia is ever-present come December, and you can buy it as easily in the supermarket as the floral shop. Many shades of red are available, not to mention pink, creamy white, yellow, variegated and bi-colored plants.

Poinsettias are simple to care for. Give them a bright window (but not in direct sun) and water the plants thoroughly when the soil surface is dry to the touch. (Discard any water that collects in the saucers because poinsettias don't like wet feet.) The best temperature for poinsettias is between 60 and 70 degrees. Try to keep them away from hot, dry air and cold drafts.

The coloring often lasts till spring, but you can bring them back for an encore. When blooms fade (around May), cut the plants back to about 5 in. and set them in the garden for the summer. Water sparingly until new growth starts, then when needed. Add a water-soluble fertilizer every three weeks.

To get your poinsettia to bloom in time for Christmas, keep the plant in total darkness for 14 hours a night from September to late November. One idea is to cover the plant with a cardboard box as soon as you get home from work and then uncover it when you leave the house the next morning.

Paperwhites

A wintertime favorite, paperwhite narcissus feature an abundance of fragrant, white blooms about six weeks after bulbs sprout.

Plant bulbs in a moist mixture of sand, peat moss and gravel or simply in dishes of water and pebbles with bits of charcoal mixed in. (With the latter, you may have to water the plants twice a day.) Keep the bulbs in a cool, dark closet or cellar until growth begins, then bring them to a window on the east or north side, which should be cooler than the rest of the house. The lower the temperature, the more compact the plants. That's a good thing for a plant that might otherwise get so tall it would fall over before blooming. For best results, try to keep the room between 65 and 70 degrees during the day.

Christmas cactus

The popularity of Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is easy to understand. Timing is everything, and a holiday plant that starts blooming in late December and often continues until February or March easily finds favor with holiday shoppers.

Christmas cactus likes bright light but not direct sun. It also prefers night temperatures around 65 degrees (although flower bud formation requires temperatures 10 to 15 degrees cooler). Pot them in an equal mix of peat moss, perlite, vermiculite and soil, which will give the plants the good drainage they require.

Come summer, put your Christmas cactus in a cool, bright room or set it outdoors on a partly-shaded side of the house. An outdoor setting is the perfect place to get the plant ready for holiday blooming. Veteran horticulturists Doc and Katy Abraham of Naples, N.Y. and authors of "The Green Thumb Garden Handbook," suggest leaving the Christmas cactus outdoors until fall temperatures dip to 35 degrees. They also recommend keeping the plant away from street and porch lights, which can delay flower bud formation.

Cyclamen

If you like to watch reruns on television, you'll get a kick out of cyclamen. Treat it right, and you should get a repeat performance.

First, resist the temptation to select a plant that's in full bloom. It's better to get a cyclamen with more buds than flowers because the floral display will last longer. Keep the soil moist but not soggy and put the plant in a cool window that faces east or west.

The optimum nighttime temperature for cyclamen is 50 degrees, so you may want to take your plant to the garage or basement each evening. To get it to bloom again, remove dead flowers and yellowed foliage. Keep the plant on the dry side in the basement for a few months until new leaves start to appear. Then repot it and return it to a cool, low-light area. An alternative is to simply continue watering and feeding cyclamen, keeping it in a bright window until it blooms again.

--Luke Miller

Provided By Garden Gate Magazine
(c) August Home Publishing Co.
All Rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission, HouseNet, Inc.


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