Gardening Tidbits from The Webster Arboretum

Now is the time to plan for festive holiday plants in your home. To ensure your décor is ready, consider how these plants can add color at the right moment. Some options include…

Amaryllis

If you want Amaryllis to bloom by December 25, they need to be planted the first week of November.

Keep in mind the type of bulb, the temperature, light level, and watering will all impact how long it takes for the bulb to reach full bloom.

The Amaryllis bulb needs bright, indirect light. Water sparingly, always checking the surface of the soil to see if it’s dried out before adding more. Amaryllis enjoy being pot bound in a narrow container but need drainage holes to grow. With consistent watering, a sunny window, and temperature around 70 degrees, your Amaryllis should be on its way to blooming. Be sure to rotate your pot 180 degrees frequently to keep the plant from stretching toward the sun.

Within a few weeks, your bulb should send up a thick green stalk. As it gets bigger, the stalk may require staking, especially as the flower gets closer to blooming.

Paperwhite narcissi

To have paperwhites blooming for Christmas, you should plant the bulbs approximately 4 to 6 weeks before you want them to bloom, which means planting them between November 1st to November 15th.

Paperwhite narcissi has tall stems and star-shaped flowers and is easy to grow. Each bulb produces two to three stems of white flowers that create a beautiful holiday arrangement. Bulbs sold for indoor growing don’t require a chilling period and will flower within a matter of weeks, making them ideal last-minute gifts.

Potting soil isn’t required. You can plant the bulbs in a clear vase filled with glass beads or gravel. Place the bulbs so that one third to a half is still visible. Don’t be afraid to pack them in to guarantee a display with real impact. Fill the bowl with water so that the base of the bulb just touches the water. Once the roots appear drop the water level, so it isn’t touching the bulbs.

Other great living options to decorate your home include:

Anthurium – Anthurium sp.

Anthuriums are easy-to-care-for, tropical, green plants with a spade-shaped leaf and heart-shaped flowers. Flower colors from red to coral, purple, and white are available year-round, but add an unexpected and light-hearted tropical flare for the holidays.  Provide them with bright, indirect light to produce the most colorful blooms.  .

Cyclamen – Cyclamen persicum

Cyclamens are part of a broad genus of plants that can be grown indoors or out, with some species performing exceptionally well in indoor environments. Beautifully patterned, heart-shaped leaves have vortex-like flowers that rise up above the foliage and bloom in white, red, and shades of pink.

Provide them with bright, direct or indirect light to support the best foliage and flowers. Low light will produce fewer flowers and duller colors. Low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizers at dilute concentrations should be used to encourage blooms and discourage green foliar growth.  The corm can also be dried and stored during the summer months and repotted in fall for repeated seasonal displays

Kalanchoe -kalanchoe blossfeldiana

Kalanchoe plants are known for their tiny flowers and oval-shaped, scallop-edged leaves. It grows clusters of tiny flowers in red, pink, yellow, orange, and white

Kalanchoe is drought tolerant and easy to grow, needing water maybe every other week when kept in its ideal bright lighting. Place kalanchoe in a warm indoor location with bright, indirect light. or place it in a full sun outdoor location that has protection from late afternoon sun.

Christmas Cactus - Schlumbergera x buckleyi 

The Christmas cactus is a long-lasting holiday plant that flowers in winter with colorful, tubular flowers in pink or lilac hues

Plants should be kept in bright, indirect light. An east-facing window or a bright bathroom is ideal. Too much direct sunlight can bleach the sensitive leaves. Christmas cacti prefer a more humid environment, which makes a bright bathroom or kitchen a good spot to keep them.

Whether you want to encourage your Christmas Cactus to bloom again, or it is slow to bloom, there are ways to trick your cactus into producing blooms at just the right time.

Hope these tips will help you create an atmosphere of beauty throughout your home this holiday season.

And as always there’s the Poinsettia - Euphorbia pulcherrima

Poinsettias like bright light, out of direct sunlight. Additionally, they need to be away from draughts and like minimum temperature of 55-60°F, so somewhere like a table a little away from a window in a living room is usually ideal. Water when the top inch of soil is dry and avoid letting it sit in standing water to prevent root rot.