You likely know them, love them, and use them to bring holiday cheer to your homes and community buildings as you decorate with a gardener’s touch! Refresh your knowledge or share these plant highlights with a friend!
Holiday Cactus
Three related plant species look like Christmas cacti. The three types bloom at different times of the year and can be found in flower at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. All three require bright sunlight and moderate moisture levels. South-facing windows are excellent places for “holiday” cactus. After the 6 weeks of holiday blooming, remove spent flowers and apply a houseplant fertilizer. Plants can be grown outdoors in semi-shady places. Stem pieces of three segments or more are easily propagated. Holiday cacti should bloom about the same time every year.
-information credit to UGA Extension Publication Circular 951, Care of Holiday and Gift Plants
Amaryllis
Beautiful amaryllis is native to the western cape of South Africa. They are hardy in USDA zones 8 and higher and make the perfect forced bulb for the holidays anywhere. New waxing technology has come along and you do not even have to pot the dormant bulbs, they wax the entire bulb, sealing in moisture, making the perfect environment for the bulb to start growing and producing lovely stalks of flowers in colors from green to pure white, pink, and deep red – and everything in between.
Whether you buy a waxed bulb or a traditional naked one, they are so easy to force. If not waxed, put in a bulb forcing vase or pot them up with your favorite potting soil, add some warm water and watch them grow. Make sure they do not dry out and you will not be disappointed.
-information credit to NICH/ConsumerHort.org
