HOUSEPLANTS have been a traditional part of Christmas for many years and, with their health benefits now increasingly understood, there’s another reason why they’re a thoughtful gift for friends or family. Of course, you could always treat yourself too!
This month, we thought we’d share with you our plant team’s top five seasonal favourite houseplants and what you should consider when choosing the plant that’s best for you or the lucky recipient.
Poinsettia
Probably the first plant we think about at Christmas, the vibrant poinsettia is native to Central America and Mexico, where temperatures are much warmer than we normally have in a Scottish winter.
As always with plants, bear in mind its original habitat and, if you provide similar conditions to where they are found naturally, you won’t go too far wrong.
There are many legends associated with the poinsettia but one of our favourites is about a poor young Mexican girl who didn’t have a gift to bring to the church on Christmas Eve. She collected bright green leaves and, as she sang out beautifully during the service, the leaves transformed into bright red star-shaped flowers. Who knows if it’s true, but the common name for the poinsettia in Mexico is the ‘Holy Night Flower’ so the folklore is obviously well known!
In Scotland, the most important thing is to ensure that your poinsettia doesn’t get a chill.
At Merryhatton, our poinsettias are grown in Scotland by Pentland Plants in their heated glasshouses at Loanhead and delivered to us in temperature-controlled vans, ensuring that they’re kept in good condition throughout. It’s not always obvious when you buy your poinsettia whether it has been chilled, so our advice is always to buy your plant from a reputable florist or garden centre.
Hyacinths
Another traditional favourite, the Christmas-flowering hyacinths not only look great, they also have a wonderful perfume.
Hyacinths that flower at Christmas are different to garden hyacinths because they have been temperature-treated to prompt early flowering. They’re very tolerant of a range of temperatures but if you want to slow down flowering, it’s best to keep them in a relatively cool place. After the bulbs have died back naturally and built up their stores for next season, you can leave them outside in their pot or plant them in the garden to enjoy again the following spring.
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera)
Although ‘cactus’ might conjure up ideas of a spiky plant from the desert, the Christmas cactus is actually a succulent that originates in the Amazon rainforest.
It has flat green pads which look like leaves but are actually its stem. The pads are joined together at the ends of each pad and its tiny ‘spikes’ are soft and harmless. Flowers are produced regularly (not just at Christmas!) at the end of the chain of pads and come in a range of vibrant pinks, reds or even white colours.
In the rainforest, Schlumbergera lives on the trunks of trees and the humidity of that environment is essential for its growth. The plant will therefore enjoy warm, humid conditions with plenty of indirect light in the home.
Humidity is very important and you can create this by keeping a gravel saucer filled with water under the plant. This ensures that the compost does not become waterlogged whilst the moisture naturally evaporates and creates humidity for the plant.
A very forgiving plant, with moisture and the occasional feed the Schlumbergera can survive in the home for up to 20 or 30 years, surprising you from time to time with the most amazing show of flowers.
Anthurium
Perhaps not the first plant we think of at Christmas, the anthurium is definitely worth consideration because its flowers can often last for months.
Sometimes known as the flamingo flower or the flamingo lily, it is also native to the rainforest and, like the Christmas cactus, enjoys warm, humid conditions with plenty of indirect light.
A very easy plant to care for, anthuriums only need to be re-potted occasionally since their roots enjoy being tightly held in the pot. Don’t be alarmed if your plant produces aerial roots above ground; it’s simply a survival tactic to help it absorb additional moisture.
When choosing your anthurium, make sure it has healthy, glossy green leaves and flowers with a fresh, waxy appearance. Available in a wide range of colours, in the garden centre we find that the most popular are the vibrant red and pure white flowering varieties.
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
If the message of Christmas is ‘Peace & Goodwill’, then the peace lily is an obvious choice!
Spathiphyllums generally all have long green leaves and white flowers.
To be precise, the white flower is actually a leaf, whilst the true flowers are relatively insignificant, have a bud-like appearance and are found covering the yellow central spike.
Ranging in size from 30cm upwards depending on the variety, the lush green foliage makes this plant very attractive, even when not in flower.
Spathiphyllums are easy to care for, enjoy warm conditions, lots of indirect light and benefit from being misted regularly so that the leaves don’t dry out. Indeed, if you see the ends turning brown, it’s most likely that you need to increase the humidity.
Spathiphyllum is an ideal gift for someone who’s new to houseplants and, if you choose a plant with lots of fresh, healthy green leaves, we’re sure you’ll introduce the recipient to the joy of plants!
And from everyone at Merryhatton, we’d like to wish all our customers a lovely Christmas and a happy and healthy year in 2022!
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