How To Choose And Care For Holiday Plants

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• Holiday Plants Add Color, Cheer As Gifts

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  Winter isn’t officially here quite yet according to the calendar, but the temperatures and snowfalls around Wisconsin tell a different story. The return of winter can remind one how holiday plants can help any home this time of year.

  Whether it’s giving a plant as a gift or selecting something to liven up a home during the long, cold Wisconsin winter, there are many options to choose from. But, even with new flowering plant cultivars being developed and marketed all the time, some old favorites still hold their own.

  Maybe, it’s the fittingly red and green foliage that makes a poinsettia seem like such a prefect holiday plant. Patti Nagai, a University of Wisconsin Extension horticulture educator for Racine County, said plants like a poinsettia can be ideal for the season.

  “I’m a traditionalist in that respect, and I love the poinsettia. Just love it,” she said. “I love all the cultivars, but my favorite will always be the brilliant red.”

  Nagai said she does enjoy the spotted types, too. She noted the Jingle Bells cultivar for the white flecks on the red leaves. She also said that depending on the setting, an all-white poinsettia can be a stunning addition.

  Then, there is the “Packsettia,” Nagai said. While not a plant that grows green and gold foliage, the Packsettia is a hand-painted poinsettia produced by Shady Lane Greenhouses in Menomonee Falls, Wis. The plant might be the perfect gift for a Packer backer.

  Poinsettias are also a good choice for people who don’t want a long-term commitment to a plant, she said.

  “We look at a poinsettia as more or less a disposable plant,” Nagai explained. “They don’t have to be. You can certainly put them in a nice bright window, take good care of them, and you can have a poinsettia for years.”

  In fact, she said, in their native environment of southern Mexico, a poinsettia can live for years and grow to several feet in height. So, Nagai said that if poinsettias are kept past the holiday season, they’ll eventually need to be pruned.

  Of course, poinsettias aren’t the only option for holiday-plant gifting. Nagai said that she’s partial to cyclamen.

  “It’s a favorite of mine to give as a gift plant because it’s a little bit easier to care for than the poinsettia,” she said.

  Not only do they do fine with a little neglect, the range of colors of the flowers is spectacular. It’s also a smaller plant, so good for people with limited space, she said.

  Orchids are also a wonderful choice for gift plants.

  “And despite what many people think, orchids are actually very easy to care for. And they do very well in the home of someone who likes to ignore their plants,” Nagai said.

  The most common types that are sold don’t need much light, and don’t suffer from being forgotten about a bit, she added. Plus, the blooms last for a long time, sometimes even months.

  While poinsettias are often discarded after the holidays, but orchids and cyclamen can both be happy and healthy plants in a household for years, she said.