CRAZY ABOUT CACTUS
It’s time to expand your holiday plant palette beyond poinsettias.
“One of my favourites is the Christmas cactus. They have beautiful, vibrant blooms,” said Kari McGowan, owner of Botanica Floral in Corona del Mar. “They bloom from late October through December, but you can keep them all year long.”
Christmas cacti, one of the six species of Schlumbergera, come in a variety of colours, McGowan said, including pink, purple, white and red. Native to Central and South America, they’re markedly different from desert cacti. In their natural environment, Christmas cacti are epiphytes, or plants that grow harmlessly on other plants; they’re commonly found in the forks of trees in a tropical climate.
Long-lived and fairly hardy, Christmas cactus can be made to bloom annually around December. The secret to getting them to blossom during the holiday season is proper light exposure, lower temperatures and limited watering.
In autumn, your Christmas cactus should be placed in a spot with indirect bright light during daylight hours but total darkness at night. If you’re successful, it will reward you with an explosion of exotic, colourful flowers.
McGowan likes them because they look terrific all year, and they’re a good value. “They are slow growers; they get to maybe 12 inches tall. You don’t have to repot them and they’re not expensive.”
McGowan has other suggestions for unusual but beautiful Christmas plants.
“One of my favourite cut flowers is called ginestra. It has the most fragrant blooms. I love using them in holiday centrepieces because they last a long time.”
McGowan is using one popular name for Genista cineria, part of a hardy genus that includes broom and gorse; it thrives in dry climates and prefers poor, well-drained soil. Genista plants have sturdy stalks that make them perfect for arranging, adorned with spiky, greyish-blue leaves and small yellow flowers shaped like sweet-pea blossoms. Their scent is fresh, haylike and honeyed, but not overpowering.
“I love the blue-green echeveria, which is my favourite.” Echeveria are shaped like rosettes with brightly coloured leaves, and they throw off short stalks.
“I also love string of pearls.” This easy-to-grow succulent has thin, threadlike stems that hang vertically and fleshy, round leaves shaped like tiny pearls.