"At Christmas play and make good cheer..."
–Thomas Tusser
"Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat..."
–Beggar's rhyme
I must admit that I was made to feel a bit like a curmudgeon, when several readers shared their displeasure with my thoughts on the increasingly earlier observance of the holiday season each year. So much for my first attempt, in the late Howard Cosell's tradition of "telling it like it is"...whether you agree with them or not, J.J. and Jay must have really thick skin to write in this tough town. Now that Thanksgiving is past, I guess it will be o.k. to write a bit about the holidays.
How many of you have ever bought or received holiday gift plants? How many of you have ever killed holiday gift plants? Having difficulty deciding on whether to purchase a living or dead (sorry, I can't help myself) Christmas Tree? Stay tuned, dear reader, because we're going to explore the wonderful world of holiday plants, because, tis the season!
The most ubiquitous of all holiday plants is the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). A native from Mexico, the red flowers we've come to prize are actually modified leaves called bracts. The inconspicuous yellow portion in the center is the flower itself. Through the efforts of Paul Ecke, the poinsettia is now available in a number of different bracht colors.
Your gift poinsettia will probably grow too tall to stay indoors permanently (they grow leggy to 10 feet and more). I consider them a useful, albeit old-fashioned garden plant, planted either as a tall bush or informal hedge. Don't expect them, however, to bloom nearly as well as their first holiday, and grow them only in sunny, frostless areas of our county.
The azalea (a type of rhododendron) is a popular year-round gift plant and is also a valuable garden plant. Available in white, pink, red, salmon, purple, and in combination colors, these profuse bloomers are hybridized as either shade or sun varieties. It's a must to grow azaleas in an acid soil that retains moisture and drains quickly. Your local nursery can provide you with an azalea/camellia planting mix, that is combined nine parts to one part garden soil for an optimal planting medium.
The Christmas Cactus (Zygocactus truncatus) is a popular hanging plant from Brazil. Not a true cactus, this one needs more water and is a favorite house plant. The pink, red, or white flowers are very showy and it's blooming schedule will let you know that Christmas is coming.
Care of these Christmas gift plants is easy, just follow a few instructions. Place the plant in a sunny window and avoid sudden temperature changes. Keep the soil moist, but don't let water stand in the plant's saucer or foil. Gradual leaf drop is an indication of not enough light; crinkling, yellowing leaves may mean too much heat or lack of water; and rapid leaf drop show exposure to cold or standing water in the saucer.
Living Christmas trees are generally pines or other evergreens shaped in the traditional conical manner. Planted in a container and pruned regularly, these trees can be "recycled" for a number of years before planted in one's garden or donated to certain municipalities or schools.
Reputable nurseries will sell only living Christmas trees that should grow successfully in their gardening area. Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata), Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis), and Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergiana) all grow well here, requiring full sun and well drained soil. To purchase a Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens 'Glauca') or Noble Fir (Abies procera) for our gardens in Laguna is a marginal proposition at best.
Living Christmas trees should be sheared regularly to maintain shape and to limit size. They should visit in your home for only two weeks. Prior to being moved indoors, they should be well watered. They will be happiest and healthiest if they receive sunlight, appropriate water and are kept away from other heat sources during their indoors stay.
Catharine and I have shared a Star Pine (Araucaria excelsa) for the past six holidays, and have delighted in watching it grow from a two foot tall tabletop to a nine foot living Christmas tree. This year, it will take four of us to move it indoors. I couldn't help but notice, that our neighbor's poinsettia was just beginning to bloom this week. I'll now be muttering "Happy Holidays" to all of you at the nursery, because their red coloring is the final clincher that the holidays are upon us. See you next time.
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