Care Guide For The 3 Most Popular Christmas Flowers

The Poinsettia, Christmas Cactus, and Amaryllis are the 3 most popular flowers of the holiday season.

The flower that first comes to mind is the poinsettia, of course. A tropical dessert plant (that really dislikes cold weather) has become the ubiquitous holiday flower in Canada.

They used to only come in red, white, and pink back a millions years ago, when I was young, but now you can get them in all sorts of fabulous colours, including purple. You can also get them spray painted in all sorts of shimmery colours, like the blue one in the picture above.

To have your poinsettia thrive throughout the holiday season, and then some, here are some things you need to know...

Buy a healthy plant. If they have drooping leaves, they have likely been over-watered or caught a cold, and will not recover. Walk away from droopy or spotted ones.

Poinsettias are tropical plants. Keep it warm when you are taking it home.

If you live in a colder zone, most all nurseries/garden centres will wrap them up nicely for you in paper cones. Box stores or grocery stores will not usually have anything like that on hand to wrap it up with.

If it is a grocery shop with a florist, ask them to wrap it for you. If there is no florist, ask for a paper bag and fold it over a couple times to keep out the cold drafts. Paper insulates better than plastic does.

Bring it straight into a warm car. Purchase your poinsettia at the end of your shopping day, on the drive home. If you leave it in a cold vehicle for any length of time, it will not survive. Cold means a certain death for poisettias.

When you get it home - taking it out of the paper or cellophane sleeve is a thing! Poinsettias are very brittle, the branches will easily snap off, so DO NOT try to dig it out of the sleeve.

If it is a cellophane sleeve (like above), hang on to the bottom of the pot and start to pull down the sleeve so that it bunches up at the bottom of the pot.

If it is a paper sleeve, you want to open up the top of the sleeve, hang on to the bottom of the pot and slowly push the pot up through the sleeve. The paper will bunch up on your arm. Failing all that... cut the sleeve open rather than trying to dig it out.

Place it in a bright location but not right beside the window (too cold). On a table, buffet, counter top, stool... in a bright room.

Ensure that your poinsettia in away from all drafts, both hot and cold. Not beside a door or window, but also not near a heating vent, woodstove...

This lovely white poinsettia of mine is in a bright room but nowhere near a window or drafts.

Watering - Keep it on the dry side! Poinsettias do not like wet feet.

Check the soil in the pot once a week. If it is dry to the touch, it needs water. If still damp, wait a few more days. To water it, you want to remove the pot cover, place in sink and let the water run through it till well watered. Leave it to sit till it is no longer dripping from the bottom. Place the plant back in the fancy pot cover (we called them party hats at the greenhouse, hah) and back into it's happy, bright location.

Important note! Poinsettias are not fatally toxic to pets, as was commonly thought in the past. Nibbling on the leaves may give Fido or Fifi a mild tummy upset, but your pet would have to eat several plants for it to cause any real harm. Whew!

When I worked at Hole's Greenhouses ( a large greenhouse in western Canada), one of the owners, Jim Hole, would go to home and garden shows and eat the leaves of the poinsettia to show people that they are not toxic, not dangerous for people (or pets).

The Christmas Cactus. Yes, there are actually Easter cacti, Thanksgiving cacti, and Christmas ones, but they all have the same care requirements.

The come in pink, red, white, and a lovely golden hue, and can be kept as an indoor plant for years, or even decades.

The care is very similar to the poinsettia. It does not like wet feet, nor cold. Keep it in a bright location, but not in too much direct sunlight. Keep it away from drafts, especially cold ones, but even warm ones from the heat register can cause it to lose it's blossoms.

Water only when the top surface of the cactus is dry. This may be once a week or just twice a month, depending on it's location, temperatures, sunlight, etc... Water till water is just coming out the bottom, do not saturate the soil, place back on it's saucer when it has stopped dripping. Do not let it sit in water.

When it is flowering, feed it with a high phosphorous fertiliser (higher middle number) every 2 weeks. In general, if you want to keep your cactus happy, feed it once a month from March through November with a 20-20-20 fertiliser, letting it rest in the winter months. If you have a 10-20-10 (or similar) you can feed it with that in September, October, and November to promote blooming.

It prefers to be a bit rootbound so do not be in a hurry to repot it, and when you do, only go up one size at a time.

My lovely Charisma Amaryllis.

Amaryllis is the third Christmas flower plant.

These lovely big holiday flowers are tall and stately, make a big splash, and come in a great many colours, from solids to bi-colours.

You may have picked up your amaryllis bulb at the greenhouse, box store, or perhaps been gifted one. If it has already been planted up into a plastic pot, place the entire thing into a larger, heavier pot that is sturdy enough to hold it up when it gets top heavy with blooms. You might also want to give it a bamboo stake to tie the flowers to.

Turn the pot a quarter turn every second day to keep the flower from leaning too far in any direction. Water regularly, as needed.

The moss here is purely decorative. You want to remove it after the holidays so that you do not get bulb rot.

If the bulb has not been planted, use a high porosity potting soil in a heavy 6 inch clay pot (or any pot that is just slightly bigger than the bulb) and has a drainage hole.

Plant the bulb so that the top third is above the soil level. It can take as long as 12 weeks before it flowers, may start at 8 to 10 weeks, if you are really lucky and it loves it's location.

Place the flower in a bright indirect light area, or some place where it gets a few hours of morning sun. Water sparingly, just enough to dampen the soil, until you see growth emerging from the top of the bulb. Water normally after that.

Your amaryllis will make one or two flower stalks, depending on the age of the bulb, and each stalk can make anywhere from 2 to three, or even 8 flowers. These flowers make really beautiful cut flowers, if you want.

To get your bulb to rebloom next Christmas, cut off the stalk when the blooms are spent. Chop the leaves to an inch high once they have yellowed. Water and feed regularly with a 20-20-20 feriliser to put strength back into the bulb. It will make new leaves throughout the spring and summer months.

In August, you want to place it out of the direct sun and stop watering for 8 to 12 weeks. I just moved mine to the back of the sunroom, out of direct light, but you can place it in a spare room, downstairs plant stand, or some like to put it in near complete darkness in a closet, or a cardboard box.

In October, you want to bring it back out to the window ledge, a table by the window so that it gets some direct sunshine, or some place nice and bright. Repot into fresh potting soil, begin watering sparingly again until you see new growth coming on, the water once a week, as usual.

It kind of thrives on neglect. The hardest part is remembering to bring it back out with fresh soil in October, during your busy garden clean up time. As it takes 8 to 12 weeks to bloom again, you need to get the timing right if you want blooms for Christmas.

My pretty pink cyclamen and homemade rosemary wreath.

Those are three most throught about Christmas and yuletide flowers, but here are a few others...

Cyclamen - Purchase healthy plants with lots of buds or blooms. Keep out of direct sunlight, in a coolish room. They do not like heat! Water from the bottom by having it sit in a saucer of water for 15 minutes, remove. Do not get water on leaves, remove spent blossoms and any signs of rotting or mouldy leaves, as they are very prone to fungal issues.

Orchids - like a warm, bright location, but heartily dislike cold or warm drafts, so not near the heat vents. Do not have them sitting in water. Grows in a special bark medium.

Azaleas - water well when in bloom but do not let sit in water, pinch off spent blooms.

Alternatively, in my opinion, there is nothing lovelier during the holidays than some long stemmed roses in a pretty vase. Tulips are also often sold for the holidays, I try to get the red parrots, if I can, buy 3 to 5 bunches to make a nice, big, full display.

Happy Holidays ~ Tanja