Plants symbolizing Christmas and New Year

Magic comes into our lives, and everything, from young to old, begins to prepare for the most beloved holidays of the New Year and Christmas. And now is the time to think about living Christmas plants.

I must say, there is plenty to choose from. The first, of course, comes to mind the tree. In recent years, lively fluffy Christmas trees in pots began to appear in stores before the New Year holidays. At first glance, such a purchase seems like a great choice - there is an amazing coniferous aroma, and a planted tree seems to be much better cut down: you don’t need to fight with fallen needles that “scattered” throughout the apartment and throw out a green beauty after the fun is over ...

Christmas trees in pots

But not everything is as simple as in a children's song about a small Christmas tree, which is cold in winter. Our Christmas tree just needs a full-fledged rest period with real winter weather. In the apartment it will be too hot for her and, most likely, she will not reach the spring planting in the garden. You can save such a tree on the balcony. But here, too, there are difficulties - in severe frosts, the earth in the pot can completely freeze. Therefore, before the onset of cold weather, the pot needs to be insulated - it can be put in a box with sawdust, wrapped with coconut mats or coated with foam. In frost-free weather, the Christmas tree will need to be watered - drying the soil is contraindicated to it.

Araucaria

The best choice would be to buy a coniferous plant - a native of warm countries, such as araucaria.

This South American also does not like hot, heated rooms, but still providing her with comfortable conditions is much easier - she will be fine at a temperature just below 20 degrees Celsius.

If you take care of good lighting with protection from direct sunlight, maintaining a constant soil moisture without stagnation of water and periodically spraying the plant - Araucaria will delight you for many years.

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See also: Choose tropical and subtropical indoor plants for living areas

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Fruit Toys

In addition to conifers, plants with beautiful fruits are used in the New Year's decor - such as holly, ardizia, nightshade nightshade, or Jerusalem cherry, nerter and even hot peppers - its colorful pods look no worse than Christmas toys. Before buying these plants, you need to pay attention to several important points. Firstly, if you have small children at home, it is better to find a replacement for nightshade and holly - at the nightshadeon poisonous, but at the same time tempting fruits, and holly too prickly leaves.

The fruits of coffee's relative - nerter - are inedible. Secondly, each of these plants has its own requirements for wintering conditions.

Hyppeastrum

If you like plants with large flowers - without any hesitation, buy a hippeastrum. In winter, this native of South America simply has no competitors. Hippeastrum belongs to family of amaryllis (Amaryllidaceae). This genus includes about 90 natural species and hundreds of varieties, among which there are plants with double and simple flowers, resembling large lilies in shape, with wide and very narrow, like. for example, in Chico, petals. In the Christmas decor, plants of red shades are more often used, but if you wish, you can make hippeastrum of bright, pastel colors, with a smooth color or an unusual combination of colors.

Poinsettia

Wonderful aroma, elegant fruit toys, familiar and exotic green needles ... What else are Christmas plants? When it comes to festive winter decor, it is impossible not to talk about poinsettia. Not everyone knows her by name, but the appearance of this plant is familiar to almost everyone.

The magnificent red "Bethlehem stars" in Europe are no less popular than Christmas trees. These plants have also become almost native to us - they are guaranteed to be tuned to a festive mood.

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See also: Poinsettia the most beautiful (photo) - how to care

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The secret of her beauty

The plant is a branched shrub with beautiful large leaves and plain small yellowish flowers, collected in apical inflorescences. During the flowering period, which just occurs in the winter months, poinsettias of incredible beauty appear bright bracts resembling leaves. The plant needs them to attract pollinators - birds and insects.

People saw in them a likeness of the Bethlehem, or Christmas, star. In nature, poinsettia reaches three meters in height, but hybrid plants are usually grown at home, characterized by a compact form of growth and a variety of colors. On sale besides the old darling - poinsettia with bright red bracts - you can find white, raspberry, pink, yellowish and even motley "Christmas stars". Like all milkweed, the plant is poisonous. If the plant juice gets on your skin, wash it off thoroughly with soap.

Until the spring, the poinsettia is kept in a bright room at a temperature of at least + 16 degrees and moderate watering, preventing full drying of the earth coma. In spring, the plant is cut to half height and transplanted into a nutritious, loose soil. From spring to autumn, the plant needs abundant watering and regular feeding. To the plant blossomed for Christmas, poinsettia from the autumn keep in the light no more than 14 hours per day.

Christmas cactus

Among traditional Christmas plants there are also those that like lovers of smart flowers.

The first on the list, of course, will be the famous Decembrist, the Christmas cactus, or the slumberberger (Schlumbergera).

From the end of autumn until spring, its jagged shoots are decorated with multi-tiered flowers up to 8 cm long. This epiphytic cactus has many magnificent varieties with flowers not only of the usual pink color - they can be white, red, violet, purple and even yellow. A real celebration of color!

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See also: Decembrist, Easter or Christmas cake

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Kalanchoe

Another elegant winterflower Kalanchoe Blossfeld (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) - can also boast an incredible variety of shades of inflorescences consisting of simple or double flowers, up to 1 in diameter. Kalanchoe flowers do not wilt within a few weeks, the plant itself requires minimal maintenance, “has no contraindications” and perfectly adapts to room conditions. In addition, it is a great seasonal gift.

Holly and nertera prefer coolness in winter and will gladly spend this period on the glazed balcony at temperatures around 7 — 10 degrees of heat. But the loamy nightshade, Ardizia and pepper prefer moderation - for them the best place would be a bright window sill with a temperature of 16 degrees of heat.

OUR COUNCIL

Experienced growers, able to provide a cool winter with a temperature of about 7 degrees of heat for their pets, you can advise such wonderful conifers as cypress, cypress barley or Japanese cryptomery.

© Author: Elena Limonchenko

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GORGEOUS FIVE - GIFT PLANTS FOR CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR

On the eve of New Year and Christmas, traditional plants for these holidays appear in the stores: above all, conifers (and their choice is great now!) And such flowering indoor plants as the Christmas star (poinsettia), Decembrist, azalea, and cyclamen. About what care they require, not only during the holiday, but also in the future, we'll talk today.

1. Conifer.

Most often, as a living replacement of the home tree, you can find a cypress variety with golden needles on sale. Cupressus macrocarpa Goldcrest Wilma. The most important thing for this plant is moist air and regular watering. If the earthen lump dries, cypress (however, like all domestic conifers) can die quickly. Moreover, at first, poor “well-being” will be imperceptible, the needles will still delight the eye with the sunshine of their color. And then suddenly the needles begin to darken and gradually dry out, at this time the plant will not be able to save. Therefore, water the plant regularly. And also be sure to spray with boiled water (it is softer than ordinary tap water).

It is best to place the cypress on a bright window, but not in direct sunlight, which can cause a burn.

This cypress grows very quickly, it is desirable to transfer it to a larger pot. To plant it in the ground in the spring, as some would like, will not succeed - it will not endure our winters. But you can continue to grow in the house, limiting too active growth by cutting or growing a new plant from the cuttings.

Another original coniferous plant for rooms or conservatories is Araucaria. It is more demanding on growth conditions than the cypress described above. The optimal regime in winter is a temperature of 15-18 °, diffused light and moderate watering (you need to allow the soil to dry, but not dry thoroughly and then moisten it again not too much so that there is no excess and stagnation of water).

At the end of January, the plant can be transplanted from the peat substrate, in which they are usually sold, into a new, more suitable one (although the transplantation time can be delayed in the spring). Get ready soil mixture for coniferous plants and add sand to it (it will help maintain the optimum moisture conditions of the soil).

After transplantation, spray Araucaria frequently, and you can also treat it with a biostimulant solution.

In the flower shop before the New Year, you can often now meet a real miniature Christmas tree - this is Konica, a gray spruce. Actually, it is intended for cultivation in the open field, but the fir tree can survive in the apartment until spring, and there you can already “let it go” to freedom - plant it in the garden. In the house, try to choose a place where it will be light, cool, and where you can often spray it and maintain high humidity. In late April - May, when the weather permits, transplant a tree into the garden.

On sale are often found and cypress (Chamaecyparis). Outwardly, these plants look like cypress (Cupressus), but differ from it more

flattened branches, rather like branches of thuja, but smaller and thinner. Although most species of cypress are frost-resistant, there is no certainty that your specimen will take root in the garden, because the name of the purchased variety usually remains unknown and it is impossible to say for sure whether it will overwinter in conditions of open ground. Still worth a try. In the spring transplant cypress.

2. Together with Catholic Christmas from Europe came to us Poinsettia (spurge the most beautiful) - "Christmas star." The birthplace of the plant is Mexico, and the devout Spanish conquistadors noticed that the plant begins to get prettier just by Christmas.

In fact, all this beauty (the red "star" on the top of the plant) is formed by the apical leaves, and the real flowers of the poinsettia are small and inconspicuous, almost imperceptible among these leaves.

True, beauty is fleeting ... The plant "fades", and the leaves turn green. For them to become beautiful again, a certain duration of daylight is needed. To do this, from the end of September, the plant will have to be hidden daily from the light from early evening to morning (the plant should spend 14 hours a day in complete darkness). As a lightproof cap, which you need to cover the flower, you can use a black dense package.

The period of such “short days” lasts 8 weeks. Then the poinsettia is kept under normal conditions, and by the Catholic Christmas it will again throw away the leaves colored with purple. True, grown in the house, this plant will not be as compact as from the store (in the nurseries the plants are treated with special drugs that inhibit growth).

Given all of the above, perhaps the Christmas star is better to buy than to grow yourself. But if you still want to experiment, a couple more tips. After the red leaves fall off, cut off all the stems of the plant at a height of 10 cm, remove to a cool place and water only occasionally so that the roots do not die. In early May, transplant a bush into a larger pot with fresh soil, water it regularly, and when new shoots and leaves appear, feed it. As the shoots grow, select the most powerful 5-6, remove the rest from the ground itself. During the summer, care is like an ordinary plant, but from the end of September, start the “short day” mode (read about it above).

3. Some "gifts" do not require any special care. For example, the well-known Decembrist (Schlumberger). Originally this plant is from Brazil, and as you know, in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, the seasons seem to have changed places. So Schlumberger in nature blooms in spring, and we have this time in December.

Schlumbergera is an epiphyte, grows on trees in some shade, therefore, even at home on the window you do not need to expose it to the bright sun, and prepare the soil loose, breathable. Better yet, replace two-thirds of the usual earth with a nutshell or expanded clay, charcoal. For epiphytic plants, such a substrate is optimal. To make the mixture slightly acidic, add peat. And as a top dressing - granules of superphosphate (about 1 teaspoon), mix them together with other soil components.

At temperatures below 12 °, the roots die off at Schlumbergärg. Plants are afraid of drafts, a sharp temperature drop. Defend water for irrigation and let it heat up in the room. It is better to water in the pan or water from above and letting the water drain, drain it.

4. During the New Year holidays, they bloom magnificently on the window, and of course, in festively decorated shops. Cyclamens.

If you buy a flowering cyclamen yourself or as a gift, pay attention to the tubers: they should not be buried in the ground, but only half immersed in it. Pack the plant pot in several layers of paper, then put it in a bag and only then go out into the cold. Do not immediately remove the packaging at home, let it stand warm for half an hour or an hour.

The optimum temperature during flowering is not higher than 12-14 °. In the old house, if there is sufficient distance between the window frames, the cyclamen pot can be put there, but not during severe frosts. Good lighting is also needed. Watering should be uniform, do not allow overdrying of the soil, and water closer to the edge of the pot - so that the water does not in any way fall on the tuber. If the conditions are good, then flowering can last until the end of February. Then once every two weeks the plant can be fed with complex mineral fertilizer.

And now you need to decide whether you will spend the effort to preserve the plant, because the native cyclamen from the Eastern Mediterranean, there every year there comes a period of rest, when the tuber completely drops the leaves. Providing suitable conditions at this time is not easy, as well as to achieve re-flowering. If you are determined to fight and experiment, a couple of words about what to do.

After flowering, the leaves turn yellow, they need to be carefully removed, watering reduced, but again do not overdry the ground. The dormant period can pass on the north window with very rare watering.

In the middle of summer, when new leaves begin to grow, transplant the cyclamen into a fresh soil mixture of turfy soil with humus and sand, but you can also purchase ready-made substrate. Cyclamen

Tuber deepen only half. Before the growth of new leaves watering infrequently. Then place in a light cool place to bookmark the buds.

5. Azalea - Another Christmas and New Year plant. She is reputed to be a very capricious flower, but it can be difficult to refuse to acquire this bright splendor.

The main problem, of course, is central heating. The azaleas in the room are hot and dry. It is also impossible to keep a flower on an ordinary glassed-in balcony, since it is not much warmer there than outside, and the azalea suffers already at temperatures below 5-6 °. But if the balcony is heated or plastic windows are installed on it, then turning it into an azalea garden is not a problem.

In the apartment, you can install a screen (for example, just made of glass), which will block the delicate beauty from the destructive heat of the batteries. The window frame will have to not be sealed and even sometimes slightly open if it is still too warm. After all, the temperature during flowering should not rise above 12-14 °, and if you have a permanent resident azalea, then in the fall, during the budding period, it should be only 6-8 ° (though then the azalea can still be on the balcony). The second most important point is maintaining high humidity. It is best to put the pot on a pallet in which expanded clay is poured and water is poured, but do not refuse to spray (spray on leaves, not buds or flowers).

It is necessary to water the azalea with slightly acidic water and so as to prevent either the overdrying of the substrate or its overmoistening. Lower your finger about 3 cm into the soil - if it is wet, watering is not needed, if not, then it's time to water. In 1 liter of water, add 4-5 drops of lemon juice or citric acid (the taste should only be slightly acidic) and use for watering.

© Author: N. SOLOVYEVA, florist

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5 CHRISTMAS SYMBOLS

We will tell about 5 colors, which in the traditions of different countries have become a kind of symbol of the Christmas holiday. By the way, such a plant is a great gift option for the New Year holidays.

1. Poinsettia (or Christmas Star)

A pot with this plant, symbolizing wealth in the family, must be in the house for the New Year. If you are planning to visit with poinsettia, carefully protect it from the cold: this inhabitant of the tropics is afraid of even short-term hypothermia. At home, keep the Christmas star on a sunny window (but so that the leaves do not touch the cold glass), without drafts, away from heating batteries. The optimum temperature is + 18 ... + 22 degrees.

2. Schlumbergera (Decembrist)

The first buds appear at the end of November, the peak of flowering occurs just in the New Year.

Put the plant in partial shade where there is diffused light. In winter, the temperature in the room should be + 13 ... + 15 degrees, in summer - + 18 ... + 20 degrees.

3. Hyppeastrum

This bulbous plant for the Christmas holidays produces a large peduncle, usually with several bright colors. Right after

after flowering, cut the peduncles in half. Water and feed the hippeastrum moderately with complex fertilizer 2-3 times a month.

4. Hellebore

In the old days they believed that hellebore protects from evil spirits and diseases. Therefore, in Europe, gardeners plant this herbaceous perennial near the house. Today, in garden centers, you can buy a forcing black hellebore with beautiful pinkish-white flowers. Putting the pot on the windowsill, make sure that the leaves do not touch the glass. Keep the soil moist, but do not allow water to stagnate. Every 2-3 weeks, feed with nitrogen fertilizers (according to the instructions).

5. Araucaria

This plant with lush branches covered with soft green needles can easily replace a traditional Christmas tree. For araucaria, a room that is lit from two sides is ideal. To make the branches grow symmetrically, once a week turn the pot 90 degrees.

© Author: G. SIMAKHODSKAYA, landscape designer

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