8 / December 2020 PRIME
Flowering Houseplants For Christmas By Jan Cashman christmas at cashmaN’s
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ou can’t beat poinsettias for a colorful Christmas plant in your home, but after Christmas, poinsettias tend to go downhill. Come January, we all are ready to move on from the Christmas theme. There are other beautiful houseplants that are colorful but do not scream Christmas and will continue to make a good houseplant month after month, sometimes for years.
Christmas Cactus WReaths • ChRistmas tRees • FResh Boughs
1838559
Across from the Highschool on West Main 10-8pm Everyday. Cashman Nursery on Springhill Rd. Mon-Sat 8:30-5pm, Sunday 10-5pm.
Christmas cactus, a colorful succulent is a true cactus. It is found native growing on the branches of trees in the rainforests of Brazil, not the dry climate you would expect for a cactus. Three hybrid varieties fall into
Anthurium this group: Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus, and Easter cactus, each blooming around those holidays. In fact, many of the plants that you purchase called “Christmas” cactus might really be “Thanksgiving” cactus. CARE: Christmas cactus are low maintenance and can live for years in your home. They need good drainage but it is OK to let them get pot-bound. Keep them evenly moist, especially when they are flowering. Christmas cactus like to be in bright light but not direct sunlight. REBLOOMING: To get your Christmas cactus to bloom by next Christmas, in early
October reduce watering. Water only when the soil is dry. Also remember, the plant must be in total darkness 12 to 24 hours a day. Don’t forget to reduce the temperature of the room the plant is in to 50 to 55 degrees for 4 to 8 weeks. Then bring it out into a warmer, brighter, room and resume watering on a regular schedule.
Cyclamen
Cyclamen’s array of longlasting flowers in various colors and their variegated leaves make them a popular houseplant in Northern climates where you can’t grow them outside. There are 23 species of cyclamen native to the Greek Islands and the
