Keep the Holiday Blooms Year Round
by Anna Ribbeck
The flowers, berries and greenery that adorn our homes during the holiday season always create a festive delight with their vibrant colors and fresh fragrances. Just seeing the naked tree in the stand and feeling the soft, newly cut pine boughs bring the most wonderful childhood memories directly to the front of our brain.
Maybe it’s just because we have these wonderful plants and blossoms such a short time that we feel compelled to relish every moment with them. This brings to mind a solution for the after-Christmas-decoration-removal anxiety—incorporate some of your favorites into your own backyard landscape and enjoy them year round! Before you say, “I already have a pine tree, thank you very much,” let’s learn a little background on some of our traditional holiday plants.
The most popular holiday plant is probably the beautiful poinsettia. This worldwide charmer began as a wild plant in Mexico. Folk legend there says the tiny flower of a wayside plant was a young girl’s gift to the baby Jesus in her church’s manger. She picked it on her way to the Christmas Eve service. On her arrival, she laid it in the little baby’s tiny hand and, as the legend tells it, the small bloom was transformed into the beautiful flower we all know and love today. The real story behind the name goes back to 1833 and Charleston, S.C. Joel Poinsett traveled from Charleston to Mexico and returned with one of these plants. Botanists fell in love with its uniqueness and named it in his honor.
The poinsettia is actually a shrub that will grow to 15 feet in height and will do quite well in our semi-tropical climate. Full sun and rich, moist, well-drained soil are musts. Planting in a protected southern exposure is also good for year-round enjoyment. It will be hardy to 25 degrees. The small yellow tips in the center of the colorful bracts are the true flowers of the plant. Today, the poinsettia can be found in red, pink, white and variegated varieties. Some will lose all their green leaves by the time Christmas has come and gone, but the colorful bracts and flowers will usually remain. Don’t despair. Plant them leafless and mulch them well. When spring comes, cut the plant back and keep well watered until the white, poisonous sap quits running. At this point, new growth should begin to emerge, and you are on your way to growing a beautiful poinsettia bush. Remember, this outdoor bush will be much larger than the usual 1 to 3-foot indoor potted version, so give it a large space to grow.
Our next favorite for the holidays is the Christmas cactus. If you have ever been the owner of one of these, you already know that this South American epiphyte needs very little care. Most of the year the plant is green, leafless and grows into flat, jointed sections that tend to lay on top of one another. Little buds appear at the tip of each section and soon another section appears. Whether indoors or out, this is a plant that demands little. It likes to be warm, but not directly in the hot sun. Soil for this plant need not be rich, but should always be well drained. Root rot will occur if the plant stands in water. Watering should be consistent. If the plant shrivels or drops buds, it is just saying, “I am thirsty.” Come December, this decorative wonder will reward its owner with an elaborate display of colorful, elongated flowers. What a wonderful living centerpiece for the table or the garden! These plants, when in bloom, are quite showy and prefer to be grouped alone. Keep that in mind if you add them to the landscape. They would be beautiful placed in front of a taller shrub that remains green in the winter. The Christmas cactus also does well in hanging baskets under a patio overhang. In case of a very cold winter, cover the outdoor-planted cacti. Potted plants can always be moved indoors at the first sign of heavy frost.
Last, but not least, let’s discuss the perennial favorites you may already have planted in your garden. Holly, whether in tree or shrub form, is a must for holiday decorating. The bush forms are perfect for landscaping the flowerbeds. They look great against the backdrop of a brick wall or fence, and they provide a shiny green background all year long. The red berries in late fall are like a payday bonus. American holly also comes as a tree and will grow to be quite large—50 feet tall in the South. This tree really loves our soil, and the red berries, while poisonous to humans, are a winter food fest for all of our wonderful feathered friends. This tree is a great way to decorate your yard and share the holiday treats.
Chrysanthemums also appear during the holidays dressed in style. They come in many colors and can complement any holiday decorating scheme. Don’t throw them away when the blooms fade. These plants will grow readily in our climate, spreading and producing lots of greenery in the garden. Clip the blooms away and plant in good sunlight. Mulch well for winter, and don’t be alarmed if they die back. When spring arrives, they will come slowly out of the earth and grow all summer into beautiful fall bushes ready to cut for the next holiday season.
It is quite a thrill to watch the once-holiday decorations grow and bloom year after year. Even though the lights and ornaments go into storage, the plants continue to delight your senses with every glimpse into your garden. What a wonderful way to keep the holiday memory alive!
