Pots hot for Xmas
BOOST traditional yuletide decor with trendy flowering houseplants and buy spares as gifts for impromptu visitors.
Lightly scented cyclamen, with pink, red, white or purple flowers above big heart- shaped variegated green and silver leaves is a Christmas must.
A mini white-flowered variety in a white ceramic looks elegant. For an impression of a white Christmas, put them in a row on a windowsill.
Poinsettias also have impact. As well as the red variety there are ones with white or salmon bracts and others that with pink bracts edged with cream.
When buying a poinsettia, look for little or no yellow pollen showing on the flower clusters in the centre of the coloured bracts. Plants that have shed pollen will soon fade and drop bracts.
Poinsettias’ milky sap is toxic and may also cause skin irritation. Avoid them if you have pets or young kids.
Christmas cacti have graceful arching stems of flat leaves that produce ruffled silky flowers at their tips in red, pink, orange or white over the festive period. The plants last so long it’s possible for them to live for generations.
Wow
Another Christmas favourite is flaming Katy, or kalanchoe, whose fleshy leaves make it tolerant to some lack of watering in a bright spot. They have red, ivory, yellow or orange flowers and look great on a south- facing windowsill between coloured fairy lights. Amaryllis is on the heels of poinsettias as Britain’s favourite Christmas plant. So if you want a white Christmas theme, look for a variety such as snow queen for the wow factor. Double the impact of the huge lilylike blooms by standing the plant in front of a mirror. Overwatering, lack of light and cold draughts will shorten any indoor plant’s life. For lasting blooms, stand them in a well-lit, cool room. Move them from sills at night when the curtains are drawn to stop them getting a chill. Water by standing them in a brimming saucer. When the compost is moist, remove from the saucer and drain excess moisture. CHECK if plants in terracotta pots need watering by with a tapping the pot a wine cork fixed to cane. If it is dry, the pot will ring like a bell. sticky seed-laden goo on to the branches of a tree, preferably an apple or pear variety. In spring the seeds should start germinating and will begin taking their essential nutrients from the tree but without harming it.
Waiting four a kiss Tip
It will take about four years before you get sprigs to cut for Christmas decorations. From then on it will grow very fast. So your patience will certainly be rewarded.