Christmas Flowers

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:41 pm

Almost every year I grow an amaryllis at Christmas and then try to regrow them and never have any luck so am determined this year not to succumb and buy one.

I'm thinking hyacinth instead. I'm hoping to find white hyacinths and dress them up with red.

My Christmas cactus had a mind of its own this year and started flowering NOW! I was hoping for a Christmas display but I'm getting a Hallowe'en display.

I don't like poinsettias. I never have much luck with them although I've seen some gorgeous ones........what else is everybody doing floral-wise at Christmas?

Post by **Horus** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 9:26 pm

Just a word of warning on the Hyacinth bulb, I was setting up one of those bulbs in a glass jar things for my mum when I touched my eye lid. It immediately started to sting and itch and I had to keep dousing my eye with cold water to calm it down a little. It must have taken half an hour to get rid of the stinging, so I dont know if it is something they treat the bulbs with, or a substance on the bulbs themselves.

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 9:36 pm

Wow - that happened to me years ago with a Poinsettia. I touched the flower/touched my eye and swollen city in less than the wink of an eye.

I'm thinking that most bulbs are dusted with a fungicide BUT maybe the ones that are forced have something even more potent on 'em. Will watch. I'm thinking hyacinth is how I'm going to go.

Amaryllis withdrawals are coming on!!!!!!!!

Post by **Horus** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 9:47 pm

Ah the dreaded Poinsettia,

any plant or shrub that exudes a 'white' milky sap will irritate your skin and they fall into this category.

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:21 pm

Did ya know - that Sago Palms is a very primitive plant. Highly toxic as the cell structure is basic and can cause death in us if ingested - even a teeny tiny bit.

I know about poinsettias and the sap and was extremely careful not to be touching any of that. I really only did just touch the leaves then my eyes and ouch! Somebody told me it had to go with the fungicides and sprays the growers spray onto the plants to force them. Not sure if that is true or not but that was an explanation I got.

Post by **Horus** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:59 pm

Don't bother with sprays LLL, Pointsettia flowering or should we say the red coloured bracts appearing, is ALL about the daylight hours they are subjected to.

Post by **jewel** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:50 am

I was given a lovely plain White orchid the other day, not something I would normally choose but I love it! Although when on holiday in jersey we visited the Eric young orchid foundation I was blown away by the huge variety ......I just worry that it will survive but it's looking happy at the moment

I never have special "Christmas" plants for indoors, prefer lights to illuminate the dark days, but do have Christmas roses inthe garden, or hellebores to the initiated.

Post by **Horus** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:28 am

Mrs H has some lovely Orchids

the flowers are very long lived and generally they are in bloom for around 3 months at a time before resting for another 3 months and then flowering again.

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:55 pm

Orchids in the past couple of years have become really popular here. They are now being sold in the grocery stores and everywhere. Always there are lots of colours and varieties out there.

I was, through my work, at a school the other day and each of the secretaries had an orchid. They were all flowering and I commented to this. They stated that they were super easy to care for and required almost not attention. They said the only thing you can never do to an orchid is cut the flower stem off cause then it will take years for it to grow another one. Have no idea if this is true or false but it makes me want to go and try some orchids.

I have different plants for different seasons. In the winter months I've also had flowering Christmas Cactus and I'm really not sure when I started the tradition of buying an amaryllis but my gf has about 5 of them all growing in the same pot and it blooms like clockwork each Christmas. I've tried and tried and tried this but am giving up trying to keep forced amaryllis over each year.

Spring and summer all my African violets tend to bloom out and outside I typically plant a couple pots of daffs and tulips to put down the driveway.

I have a whole host of tropical greenery and a humungus jade plant.

I'm wanting the winter colour so this year am going to go for some white hyacinths but am sticking them in a pot with lots of red and candy canes or something that will make 'em look realy Christmasy.

Post by **Horus** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:17 am

LLL, if you make sure that you buy a MOTH orchid botanical name Phalaenopsis they are very easy to grow and will flower very much as I described above.

This Orchid CAN have the stem cut back, but you do it in a certain way. After the last flower has dropped off (they don't die or shrivel up) have a look at the bare stem and if any are visible you cut just above the second node on the stem. If they are there they are easy enough to see, but if not then cut them down to the base area where the leaves come from, always use a sterile sharp knife or cutters as disease can easily spread between plants.

Remember that they do not have soil around their roots as they normally grow in trees, so the mixture is usually moss and bark with some gravel in it, easily available in garden centres. It is common to see the 'air' roots hanging over the pots and they will be fine like that, you only need to re-pot when the plant is actually pushing itself out of the pot.

As to the pot itself, make sure it is an opaque one as the roots need diffused light to be healthy, then put that pot inside a slightly larger ornamental pot of your choice that will allow a little light to go between the inner and outer pots.

Never water from the top and only provide water every week by standing the inner pot in a container (a cereal bowl is OK) for around 1 hour in aired water, leave them to drain and replace in the outer pot again. When in flower you should add a proprietary Orchid feed to the water and do the same as above, but do this only once every month. I will try to take a few pictures to illustrate some of the above information.

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 5:11 am

Interesting info on orchids H. If the moth orchid is really easy to grow it is quite tempting to me. I was looking at all the orchids today in the florist section of the grocers however none of them were named or marked to identify them. (I think this is probably typical of grocery store plants nor does any of the staff have a clue about plants).

Love the unique flowers and the colours are wonderful.

I ended up buying 24 tulips bulbs and planted them out in the garden today. Still mulling the orchids. Really appealing.........hmmmmmm.....thinking......

Post by **Horus** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 11:43 am

LLL, you planting bulbs reminded me of a story I once heard.
During the second world war some German prisoners were allowed out of the prison camps to work on farms and country houses. From all accounts they loved to do this and in the main were treated very kindly by the people they worked for. One such POW was taking care of the grounds belonging to two elderly old ladies who treated him very well and would knit him gloves and scarves and bake him home made pies and cakes.

As the war ended he was due for repatriation, so he made a special effort to make the garden look nice before he went home again. He cut out a section of lawn beneath the bay window and closely planted it with Crocus and Snowdrop bulbs that would come up in the spring and remind them of him as they looked out onto the lawn he used to tend. He subsequently said his goodbyes and returned home to Germany and the two old ladies often sat in the bay window and talked about dear Fritz, looking forward to seeing the bulbs in the spring as they would remind them of him.

They watched each day as the green leaves peeped through the warming soil and saw the flower heads forming in great profusion. Then one beautiful spring morning as the warm sun shone onto the flowers they opened in unison and spelled out his message to them, which was:

Spoiler

Heil Hitler

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:51 pm

@ H - Good one!

I'm heading out soon today to go to some of the garden centres around here an stare at the orchids. Am sorely tempted but am not sure....I probably need to get less plants these days rather than more - ...........but one more probably wouldn't hurt much!

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 4:49 pm

Ohhhhhhhhh I'm going through amaryllis withdrawals! I always get one and then pout when I can't get it to bloom a second year. I've sworn off BUT BUT BUT - now they're all in the stores! Geez I want one.....AND unfortunately orchids just don't cut it for me for Christmas!

I see orchids and think of Hawaii, the Carribbean - and while they're gorgeous they're just not Christmas........

Oh - what is the antidote to amaryllis withdrawals??????

Post by **Horus** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:13 pm

Oh - what is the antidote to amaryllis withdrawals??????

Quite simple,

just buy another one.

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:12 pm

That is too simple a solution. I'd rather whine, moan and groan about it and then drive myself crazy trying to grow it the next year.

I went over to garden centre this morning and the amaryllis were on sale but I resisted and focused on all the orchids. There really were some beauties there. Ended up coming out with nothing. Still thinking.....