Christmas Plants and Flowers

Flowering Christmas plants, such as azaleas, Christmas cacti, poinsettias and cyclamen add such a festive touch to the cold months that most of us want to prolong their flowering.

The best way to do keep these plants flowering is by giving them cool conditions.

Temperatures of 50 to 60?F (10 to 15?C) are ideal for most of these plants (however Poinsettias like it a bit warmer).

Avoid letting them get too cold at night, which can happen if they sit on a chilly window sill. Another problem is too setting plants too close to heating outlets, which can cause them to dry out quickly.

Festive poinsettia

These flowers - actually colored bracts - are very long-lasting, and can be showy for months.

Poinsettias do best in bright conditions, but don't like direct sunlight. Water them thoroughly when the top of potting soil starts to dry out.

These Christmas plants like it relatively warm, 60 to 70?F (15 to 21?C), and need to be kept out of draughts. Mist them regularly to prolong the life of their showy bracts.

There isn't much point to keeping poinsettias through the growing season to attempt re-blooming because they need exacting conditions of light and temperature, so it's easiest just to discard them when you've grown tired of them.

It's a myth that poinsettias are poisonous if the leaves or bracts are chewed or ingested.

After doing extensive testing on rats, Ohio State University researchers found no adverse effects.

Poinsettias belong to the Euphorbia family of plants, which exude a milky sap from leaves, flower bracts and stems when broken open.

Sometimes, this sap can cause mild skin rashes, and that has probably contributed to the myth that this popular Christmas plant is poisonous.

Indoor cyclamen will flower for several months. Choose a plant that has lots of buds, and look for healthy colored leaves.

Cyclamen thrive in a cool, bright spot, but avoid setting them in strong sunlight. Be sure to keep them away from heat sources. Avoid overwatering.

Groom the plants by removing finished flower stems. After flowering, continue careful watering and feeding until leaves yellow, then decrease watering as the plant goes dormant in summer. When new growth resumes, start regular watering. This is also a good time to repot.

These Christmas flowers are like cool, moist and shady growing conditions. An east or north-facing window sill is ideal.

Don't let them dry out, and keep them away from hot air heating outlets. The best way to water them is to set the pot into a saucer of water at room temperature for about five minutes, and then let the pot drain.

Indoor azaleas also benefit from added humidity provided by a pebble tray.

You can keep this plant outdoors in the summer in a cool, shady spot. Water frequently, and give it fertilizer for acid-loving plants, and bring it indoors before fall frosts arrive.

Lady's Mantle Flowers

Leaves with dew drops

Lady's Mantle is an undemanding perennial charmer that's beautiful and easy to grow.

It has four- to six-inch wide leaves that look like pleated fans with shallow scalloped lobes and serrated edges.

The lightly-haired velvety soft leaves have the delightful habit of retaining dew and rain drops like jewels, which stay in place until dried by the warmth of the day.

Plant this perennial in dappled sunlight or part shade with evenly moist soil.Hardy in zones 4-7, it needs deeper shade and more frequent watering in the hotter regions, but is not fussy about soil type, or soil pH, and has no insect or disease problems.

Lady's Mantle has a long-flowing period

The plants grow into spreading mounds that are about a foot wide and tall.

You can use Lady's Mantle as an effective edging plant along borders and paths.

It also creates a ground cover carpet under leggy plants such as roses and shrubs or trees.

The softly rounded form complements and combines well with taller, upright plants such as Siberian irises, foxgloves and speedwells, but is equally at home with more spready plants such as hostas, ferns and astilbes.

In late spring, airy sprays of small chartreuse flowers extend 12 inches above the leaves and make excellent long-lasting cut flowers. Use them as attractive fillers in bouquets.

If very happy in its site, this plant may self-seed; to prevent this, just remove the flower heads as they fade.

Many species have been described but only two or three are easy to find in catalogs or garden centers.

Alchemilla mollis (sometimes sold as A. vulgaris) is the easiest one to find. Its only shortcoming is a tendency to flop or look a bit ratty after flowering when grown in full sun, but cutting back the old foliage will quickly produce a flush of bright new leaves. The cultivar 'Thriller' tends to hold its shape better then the species and seldom needs to be cut back.

A. erythropoda resembles a miniature version of A. mollis and works well in rock gardens or in containers.

You can't go wrong with Alchemilla in a flower garden: it's a captivating plant that provides season-long interest with its subtle beauty and outstanding foliage.

Growing Flowering Vines

One of the most popular climbing vines for sun is clematis, with many varieties boasting stunning flowers. Other favorites are wisteria and climbing roses.

The important point for all of these vines is that they get full sun. Some clematis varieties can take part shade, but be sure to plant them where they will get at least half a day of sunshine.

Clematis cultivar 'Dr Ruppel'

Large-flowered clematis hybrids, hardy from zone 4 to 8, are deciduous vines for sun that climb 8 to 12 feet using twining stems and tendrils.

Flowering time varies from late spring until frost, depending on the species or cultivar.

Clematis vines are available in a profusion of flower colors including white, blue, violet, purple, pink and red or bicolor.

Most prefer full sun - but some do well in part shade too - and loamy, moist but well-drained soil.

Pruning depends on the type - many types bloom on the current season's growth and should be cut down almost to the ground in early spring just before new growth starts. Prune those that bloom on previous year's growth immediately after flowering.

Pruning information should be on your plant tag, so be sure to hold onto it until you get your clematis care routine down.

More information: tips for choosing, planting and caring for clematis.

Fragrant wisteria in bloom

Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda), Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis): Both are vigorous twining vines, hardy from zone 5 to 9, growing 25 to 30 feet.

Both types are loved for long dangling clusters of fragrant blue flowers in spring and have strong woody stems that need very sturdy support posts. The flowers of the Japanese type are longer than those of the Chinese type.

This vine needs a strong structure such as a pergola for support.

Wisteria grows best in moist, well-drained soil in full sun. Do a mid-summer pruning of new growth back to about six inches of main stems and prune shoots again in late winter back to two or three buds.

Roses climbing an arbour

The term "climbing roses" is a bit misleading. Roses don't climb the way that vines like clematis or wisteria do. They are simply rose varieties with long, arching canes that can grow about 10 feet tall.

Left to their own devices, these roses may grow into big, unmanageable shrubs, hooking their thorns into anything around, including unwary gardeners.

You can encourage them to climb by tying the canes to a support post or latticed trellis. (Wear long sleeves and leather gloves to protect from the thorns.)

Canadian rose breeders have developed hardy shrub roses named after famous explorers. Of the "Explorer" roses, the following make good climbers for sun: 'John Cabot' with its fragrant red double flowers, 'Martin Frobisher' with fragrant light pink flowers, and 'William Baffin', with deep pink, double flowers that aren't scented.

These cultivars are hardy from Zones 3 to 10 and require full sun and rich soil. More information on growing roses.

Amaryllis ( Hippeastrum ) Flowers

Amaryllis, also known as Hippeastrum, is about the most impressive flowering bulb you can grow as a houseplant. The flowers are large and trumpet-shaped and come in lovely shades.

Colors range from white and apple- blossom pink to scarlet; some varieties even have striped petals.

Amaryllis 'Snowkisses'

Hippeastrum flowers may look exotic, but they are easy to grow.

When you buy a bulb, look for a large, plump one with some roots attached.

Choose a pot that's slightly larger than the bulb, and plant into potting soil, leaving the "shoulders" (the top third of the bulb) exposed.

Keep the soil mix moist, but not wet, and temperatures above 64?F (18?C). Optimal temperatures are between 68 to 77?F (20 to 25?C). Place the bulb in bright light and watch for growth to resume. You should see a flower bud appear after a couple of weeks.

Turn your pot regularly so the flower stalk won't lean in one direction. The flowers can be quite top-heavy, so you might need give them added support with a slim stake and raffia ties.

The technique recommended for years has been growing the plants on through the summer outdoors, and then inducing dormancy by stopping watering in the fall and placing them in a dry cool spot indoors for 10 to 12 weeks.

The reason for this is to try force blooming for a specific period, usually Christmas. However, for bigger, healthier plants, some experts recommend allowing the bulb to continue growing vigorously as long as possible, so it will reward you with better blooms in January or February.

Once the flower is finished, cut off the stem just above the bulb nose. Give amaryllis bright light on a sunny windowsill or under plant lights.
Feed and water. Apply a standard water-soluble house plant fertilizer at half the recommended strength every two weeks.
Keep bulb in a pot sized "just right". As the bulb grows and the pot fills with roots, move it up to a bigger pot that's just slightly larger than the bulb. I like to use tall, narrow clay pots.
In summer, move the pot outdoors into a sunny spot and treat it like a container plant. Continue fertilizing until the middle of August. Don't allow the soil to dry out, but avoid keeping it soggy.
In fall, before there's a chance of frost, bring the plant inside and place in a sunny window or under plant lights. The leaves may yellow and die off by late December. During this time, keep the plant moist, not wet; most importantly, don't let the pot dry out. The buds for the new flowers should appear in January or February, but sometimes they bloom as late as March.After flowering, resume feeding and keep the pot in a sunny window or under plant lights until it can go outdoors again. Big vigorously growing bulbs will produce offsets - little baby bulbs - which you can pot up to grow to flowering size in a couple of seasons.

Flower Garden design tips

Did you dig in without considering garden design when you were starting out? That's what I did. I just kept making my beds a little wider each year to put in more perennials. It was a matter of learning by doing.

Like most gardens (yours too, I'll bet) my first one grew, bit by bit, without an overall plan. But now I believe any landscaping project is going to be more successful if you think it through first.

My garden in early summer. Photo: ? Y.Cunnington

By the time I got to my second garden on an acreage, shown here, I did draw up a plan.

The project was so big and had so many parts that we had to take quite a bit of time to consider what to do with each area before we started planting.

Planning your flower garden is a way to avoid the classic dilemma: wandering around with the plants you've just bought, wondering where the heck to plant them.

Designing on paper  Photo: ? Y.Cunnington

No, you don't have to draw out a plan, showing where every single perennial plant goes.

I was trained in garden design, and most of the time I don't have the patience for that!

The pros do it to figure out the exact number of plants to order, but home gardeners usually don't work that way.

When I make a drawing for myself, it's generally a simple one to show the layout of a bed, and a basic planting plan that shows the most important plants only.

A lot of folks see gardening primarily as getting color into their yards. But if you focus on colorful flowers first and foremost, it's a bit like arranging the lamps, accessories and pictures before your house has even been built.

I once took a landscape design course taught by the British garden guru John Brookes, author of John Brookes Garden Design. He advises planning and planting in the following order: First, the "specials", usually large deciduous trees that serve as focal points; next the "skeletons," evergreens or hedges for year-round structure.

Then come the "decoratives", flowering shrubs or tall grasses. And, finally, you get to the "pretties" – spring and summer-blooming perennials and fillers such as bulbs, annuals or biennials.

According to Brookes, many gardens lack structure and coherence because they were started with the "pretties."

Planting your garden will be easier if you take a little time to plan before you buy plants. Remember: nobody creates a prize-winning flower garden the first year — but you weren't going to invite the garden club over for coffee — not just yet anyway?

How to take care of flower seedlings

When you notice germination and seedlings beginning to grow, remove the plastic dome or plastic bag over your planting trays.

Check daily for moisture, but avoid the temptation to over-water.

Soggy soil, excess warmth and poor air circulation can lead to damping off, a common fungal disease that can kill baby plants. Prevention goes a long way, and you can use a fungicide called No Damp to help combat this.

Newly sprouted seedlings

Most young plants grow best at day-time temperatures between 70 to 75?F (21? to 24?C) and night-time temperatures between 55 to 65?F (13? to 18?C).

For healthy, bushy growth, tiny sprouts need plenty of light, and they're more likely to get it under fluorescent lights than on a windowsill.

You don't have to use expensive grow lights: ordinary cool-white 40-watt fluorescent tubes do nicely, as the young plants will only need to grow under them for a few weeks.

Shop lights that hang from chains on a light stand are ideal. The chains allow you to adjust the lights to keep them right above the seedlings.

Gardeners Supply offers a variety of
different grow lights for seed-starting

The importance of light: Keep plants as close to your lights as possible: This helps prevent plants from growing weak, spindly stems from stretching too.

Set your lights on an automatic timer set to be on for 18 hours and off for six hours.

When to start giving fertilizer: When your baby plants have two sets of true leaves (the first leaves are called cotyledons or seed leaves), start fertilizing once a week with half-strength liquid plant starter or fish emulsion fertilizer.

Transplanting: If necessary, transplant seedlings into their final pot once they have their second set of leaves. Always handle young plants by the leaves, as the roots and stems are very tender.

These home-grown petunias are big enough
to be hardened off outdoors

As planting-out time in the flower garden nears, coddled young plants raised indoors need to be toughened up or "hardened off."

To do this, set your plants outside in a shady, sheltered spot for at least a week or two before transplanting into the garden.

Give your plants half a day outdoors at first, and gradually leave them out longer, slowly moving them into sunnier and windier areas to get them used to life in the real world.

Once they're outside for good, protect them by covering them on cooler nights with a sheet or putting them into a closed cold frame.

Cool-season annuals such as pansies and snapdragons should be hardened off several weeks before tender, heat-loving ones such as impatiens or tomatoes.