Get Beyond the Christmas Tree When Identifying Plants for the Holidays
If you have plans to buy a cut Christmas tree, you know how a tree can set the stage for a beautiful holiday. A real tree may be a bit more trouble than an artificial tree, but fans of real trees say that artificial trees just can’t cut it. Even if you’re featuring an artificial tree, identifying plants to decorate your home for Christmas can help you achieve some of that same real tree appeal.
Real tree enthusiasts know the draw of incorporating plants, and if you’re a gardener, you may embrace the idea of even more plants included in your holiday decorating. Identifying plants for Christmas decorating often comes down to just a few key varieties:
Christmas cactus: While these may be difficult to coax into bloom at exactly the right time, they can lend a colorful display to your home in the winter. The Christmas cactus is an air plant, living on dust, debris and rain and usually flower based on intermittent periods of cooler temperatures.
Poinsettia: This Central American plant is a common sight at Christmastime, and the variation in colors makes it fun for decorating your home. You can get poinsettias in white, pink or red and you’ll even spot them drenched in glitter in grocery stores. While often treated as a seasonal plant, you can nurture your poinsettia to live all year.
Hyacinth: Evergreens often dominate the Christmas scent scene, but hyacinths can help you mix up the aromas in your home. These flowering plants have a strong scent and their small flowers add a delicate touch to any holiday display.
Amaryllis: These showy plants produce large blooms in white or red, but their planting should be timed right for a Christmas appearance. Plant your amaryllis about 10 weeks before your desired bloom time to get the desired results. Amaryllis also makes a nice gift for those that get the winter blues, because just about the time that everyone is getting anxious for spring to appear, an amaryllis received for Christmas will bloom.
Identifying plants for Christmas decorating is fun, but you can give each of these plants as gifts, too. Include a set of Kincaid Plant Markers and you’ve got a complete and themed gift idea. Take a look at our full selection to purchase a gift for your favorite gardener.
