Email
Print
Cool is key to healthy Christmas greenery
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: December 20, 2008
I have always wanted to move one of these frantic weeks before Christmas to sometime in late January when there is little to do except watch the ice crystals form.
Along with many dinners, parties and shopping expeditions, the holidays bring myriad extra chores. Keeping the season's plants and greens in good shape is among them.
The tree should have its trunk freshly sawed before it goes into the stand, and thereafter should be supplied with fresh water daily. A large, fresh-cut tree can easily suck up a gallon of water in its first few days in the house, and will slow down as time goes on. Keeping it properly watered is an easy-to-forget-but-important chore. If the tree dries out on the cut end, resin will seal the wound and it will not be able to drink any further, leading quickly to its demise.
Cool and moist are the operative words when it comes to so many holiday plants and greens. Trees, greens, cyclamens, Christmas cactus and paperwhite narcissus thrive in temperatures down into the 50s, much cooler than most people are comfortable in. Paperwhites are particularly cold-hardy. If you want to hold them in bud, say for a coming party, you can leave them out under a porch overhang or in a cold garage until a few days before the event. Greens will stay in good shape outside on the north end of the house until you are ready for them.
The other problem with paperwhites is that the tall stems often topple just when coming into bloom. You can stake them, but staking arrangements usually look awkward. Bright sunlight helps to avoid this situation, but that will heat up the pot and shorten the life of the flowers. Remember, they like it cool.
Another trick is to plant the paperwhite bulbs in bowls filled with pebbles or glass marbles. Plant them so that the shoulders of the bulbs are out of the medium. Fill the bowls with water to just below the bottom of the bulb. After the bulb has gown several inches high, replace the water with a solution of one part rum, gin, or tequila diluted with seven parts water. The alcohol will dwarf the growth of the bulb by 30 percent to 50 percent but will not affect the flowering. This trick doesn't work with bulbs planted in soil though.
Play it cool
Temperature plays a vital part in how many holiday plants perform.
The Christmas cactus has to have temperatures in the 55- to 65-degree range and nights of 13 hours or more in length to set its buds. Temperatures in the other extreme can make these plants abort their flower buds.
Poinsettias do well in temperatures that we find comfortable, but lower night temperatures will keep them in the best of shape.
With both of these though, the key is to avoid sudden extremes. Drafts, temperature drops or dryness can shorten the life of flowers or make them drop their buds.
Amaryllis need higher temperatures -- 70 to 75 degrees -- to get a good start. Without an initial warm period the bulb will sulk with out rooting or throwing shoots and could possibly rot. Once they start flowering though, it is best to keep them on the cool side, too.
People are often surprised to learn that amaryllis can be planted outdoors in the garden. The literature rates their hardiness as Zone 7B and though we are technically in 7A, there is nothing like seeing a stand of amaryllis with bright red flowers, 6 inches across blooming in the late-spring garden to convince you that this zone thing has a few holes in it. Wait until after the last frost to move the plants into the garden. Plant them with the bulbs near the surface in well-drained soil and give them a light mulch to keep things moist. Expect flowering the next spring to summer.
One of the best holiday plants is also one of the touchiest. Cyclamen like it cool and moist and will let you know if you forget by quickly wilting if too dry, or stretching if too warm. Well-grown, they are stunning plants that perform well, with multiple flowers over a period of several months. The plant in flower has been likened to a flock of butterflies. They seem to get better every year, with deeper colors and frilled and pinked petals often outlined with a contrasting color. The miniatures are perfect for perching on dining tables and windowsills.
Get misty
Moisture comes two ways, as water, something all plants need; and as humidity, the measure of moisture in the air. Humidity is equally important to living plants and woefully absent in most winter households. If you cannot run a humidifier to appease the plants, a simple solution is to perch the pot atop a saucer filled with pebbles and water. The saucer must be filled with pebbles so that the pot sits atop them and not in the water, where the soil would then wick it up and lead to rot. You simply keep a supply of water in the saucer and as it evaporates it creates a humid environment around the base of the plant, just where you need it.
Ivy topiaries are popular holiday items, coming in assorted cones and poodle-esque spheres. They have a special need for humidity, because dry ivy equals the dreaded spider mite, an infinitesimally small pest that feels the same way about ivy that Santa does about cookies.
Take your topiary to the sink every few days and give it a good shower to discourage them. They love dry conditions but do not stick around long where it is moist.
■ If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
