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winter cold period
At this time of year the garden is entering a quiet time of rest and dormancy. The colder temperatures of winter give a needed rest to those plant species from temperate regions. This is an important period for many plants as it provides a rest which will issue in a grand flush of growth in the coming growing season. If plants do not get this cold period rest, they will grow, but not as vigorously as they would had they been given the proper cold rest period. Flowering and fruit species display this most evidently. Their spring bloom is profuse if their cold requirements were met, and the show of blooms is meager if it has not.
For tender and semi hardy species, this is cold is not welcome and they will need frost protection to survive. Do not prune off frost burned parts of plants now, those damaged areas will provide insulation against future cold spells and if pruned off now, they can actually initiate a growth flush, which is not what you want at this time.
Provided you have planted cold hardy species in your landscape, they will need minimal attention now. Adding a mulch can give roots more frost protection but be sure to check it when growth starts in late winter or early spring. Clear it away so new growth can grow without restriction of the added mulch at the base of the plant. Many perennials benefit from a cold dormancy period. Herbaceous peonies are a prime example. The dormant buds need that cold period in order to bloom. Other perennials like this cold and they will show it in spring with a grand flush of top growth. You can actually divide many perennials now and they will do much root growth to support the spring flush of top growth.
With exotics like bamboo, now is a prime time to divide them as they are in a state of dormancy or semidormancy. Be sure to keep the plants from dessicating and keep them in a wind and sun protected area until small feeder roots can grow in about a month or two.
With early flowerers like flowering quince, forsythia, chimonanthus, and winter honeysuckle bush and flowering plums, this cold rest period now will yield a very fine show of blooms later on. In warm winters,, their display of blooms is meager compared to what it will be this coming season since we are having a typical winter’s cold.
It is very important to make sure all plants are kept well watered during the winter. This is especially important for camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, and pieris. If you let them go dry now, the flower buds will abort. Deciduous species are less exacting but keep an eye on them as well to make sure they have enough water to keep the stems plump.
Winter pruning can be done now on some types of plants. Removal of dead growth and poorly placed branches can be done at any time, but is easier to see now when leaves have fallen. I tend to like to prune toward the end of winter so cuts will be exposed less to the cold and growth will begin soon after when spring arrives.
An important thing to remember is that for plants that bloom on old wood formed last year, winter is not a good time to prune them as you will be removing the flower display of spring. Prune those plants during or just after they bloom so new growth will come after the bloom period and have time to ripen over summer and fall and give branches of bloom next spring. (Deutzia, forsythia, chaenomeles, philadelphus, weigela are examples of these.)
Winter is an excellent time for garden clean up. Clearing away any debris is always a good idea as santitation will eliminate hiding places for bugs and diseases to a very great extent and lessen the need for possible spraying later on.
A dormant oil spray will eliminate many insect pests before growth starts. I like to time spraying after rainy periods and towards the end of winter. With peach leaf curl, you can miss many early season sprayings but not the last one as that is the most important before growth initiates. If you do not spray for leaf curl, you will likely have it on new growth and into summer, and the tree will be compromised. They do not usually die from this, but are set back since infected leaves fall and spores are again released to afflict growth next year
conifers benefit from a cleaning out of dead thatch type growth in the interior of the plant. now is a good time to attend to that job and rains/wind will help with this as well.
You can prune many of these now, keeping in mind the basic overall form of the plant and the interior branch structure. They bleed sap less at this time and you can use the cut branches for indoor arrangements.
Winter Flowering Plants
Right now there are several plants in bloom and more just about to bloom despite the cold weather!
Among my favorites are Chimonanthus praecox / Wintersweet. A large shrub with pointed oval leaves during the growing season but right now in full bloom with wonderful scented yellow pendulous cups of blooms. It is an easy to grow large shrub. Think of a lilac bush for mature size..perhaps 8 X 8 ft. Can be pruned to any size / shape smaller. Sund to a good amount of shade. Regular water
Winter blooming honeysuckle bush is another favorite. Small creamy white honeysuckle blooms dot the plant profusely on stiff arching branches. This is also another easy care bush, pehaps to 8 ft tall X 10 ft wide. There are several species. Lonicera fragrantissima, L. standishii are the ones you can find if you look very hard. they bloom from November to April/May depending on the weather. Sun to perhaps 3/4 shade, prune to shape, cut branches for indoor arrangements.
Prunus mume is another favorite. This flowering apricot/plum ally is usually seen as a large bush to small tree but sometimes you can find rare weeping forms and there is also a contorted form. White, pink, reddish flowers in single to double with a clean spicy fragrance, reminiscent of carnations perhaps?
Flowering is profuse if planted in well drained soil in full sun.
winter season plants
with the colder temperatures of winter now upon us, the garden begins its dormancy. For most plants this is a time for rest, leaves fall, growth slows, fruits ripen and drop, seeds are released, etc. but there are some plants that bloom now. A traditional favorite are the Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus. Often epiphitic (living on tree branches or mossy rocks) these cacti come from tropical regions in the Americas. Hybridizers have done work with this group so that besides the old fashioned favorite in purple, there are now many oterh colors, reds of many shades, some with white, Pinks, purples, whites of various floral forms, and even yellow. These house plants like conditions comfortable to people. They are tropical, but grow in the high shade of forest trees on mossy branches, so remember to pot them up in a porous soil mix, and keep them away from freezing temperatures. They make wonderful houseplants, often living for generations. They were not often for sale, and the only way to get a plant was a ‘slip’ from someone that had one, and you might have given a slip to a friend or family member. They live for many years and when they flower, are truly a pleasure to cultivate. They can bear hundreds of flowers on an older, larger plant. Jummingbirds like to visit the blooms if they have access. They are much more rewarding to me than the typical poinsettias and much showier than living Christmas trees.
Now for the garden itself, there are coming into bloom several easy care shrubs. Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) is a large easy care shrub. Oval leaves coming to a point dress the plant in summer, then turn yellow to tan/buff before falling. The main characteristic for this plant is the fragrance of the numerous yellow blossoms, often marked maroon. The sweetly fragrant blooms perfume the vicinity around the plant and make wonderful cut branch material for the vase. A sunny spot with fertile soil and regular watering will suit this and it may grow to the size of a lilac.
Another plant soon to flower is Edgeworthis chrysantha, E. papayrifera. Flowers come in nodding clusters and are white tubed with yellow faces. The tube shaped flowers are arranged in a disk form, somewhat like a sunflower, or chrysanthemum. Regular watering, little pruning (just cut back to a side branch) and reasonably fertile soil and sun to part shade will grow this to perfection.
Berried shrubs and trees are also showy at this time of year. Sorbus spp. (mountain ash) , species roses, viburnums, stranvaesia, crabapple (malus spp.), quince, holly, nandina, fatsia, ivy, and many more have showy fruits now. berried branches make wonderful additions to both garden and vase.
If you like the conifers (needled evergreens), then you have much variety from which to choose. Here, find yelows, oranges, blues, greys, all shades of greens, and many textures and growth habits. There are dense compact branches, slim and threadlike other branches, puffs of cluster foliages, and so much more. And don’t forget those cones! They make wonderful additions to the holiday and garden decor. Sprigs of branches give that ‘piney’ fragrance so much appreciated at the holiday season.
Camellias (C. sasanqua and related, as well as some early flowering species, and species hybrids can be found in bloom. newer selections have fragrance, and rare forms have unusual foliage of various shapes and often variegated patterns.)
Not at all showy are the winter flowering bush honeysuckles (Loncera fragrantissima, L. standishii, L. pupursii). They will never capture you attention in an arresting display, but their flowers will scent the garden from late October to April. These are easy care bushes of stiff arching habit. Small creamy honesuckle vine flowers decorate the bush for a long time and make good cut branch material for the indoor vase. More sun will yield more flowers, but these will tolerate quite a bit of shade.
And do not forget showy bark, apparent in many species. Here I will invite you to seek out the maples with bark colors. Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’ is the coral bark maple. It can grow to over 30 ft tall, but the cv. ‘Benikawa’ had a much nicer umbrella shape, still with that gorgeous red bark in winter. a. rufinerve is showy at any time, but the cv. ‘Winter Gold’ just screams out in the winter landscape for attention. school bus yellow, and when planted by a red bark form, the display is very showy, yet there is not a single flower to be seen making this show, it’s all bark color.
A. ‘Joseph Witt’ is almost white barked. a. rubescens (a. morrisonense), a. capillipes, A. pensylvanicum are all showy. Perhaps A. tegmentosum is the showiest species and its variety ‘While Tigress’ all the more so. There are others, but none are common, nor commonly available. You have to look for them.
If it does not rain late in the season, the chrysanthemums will still have color. of very easy care, these perennials are not seen as much as they once were. I like the more unusual types in floral forms, spiders, quills, pom poms, saga(thistle shaped blooms) and ise(brush shaped blooms) types and those great large incurved forms are very showy and spectacular. There are also miniature types which can be made into bonsai, and cascades which produce sheets of colorful flowers., as well are cushion types, and new breeding has yielded varieties which rebloom. These easy care perennials like full sun, rich soil, regular watering and pinching/shearing up until early-mid summer. They make wonderful cut flowers and the color range is broad, whites, pinks, almost reds, bronzes, lavenders to purples, even green-chartreuse greens, and floral forms are extremely varied.
winter blooms and tasks you can do in the garden
With the cold upon us and frost burning the tender plants, it is nice to see other plants beginning their bloom cycle. Winter bloomers are cherished plants held very dear to every gardener because they brighten up the somber landscape of winter. Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) is a somewhat rare shrub nowadays, but is special nonetheless. A larger deciduous shrub from 6-8 or even 10-12 ft tall, less wide bears very fragrant flowers in yellow (often marked in chocolate or maroon) now. Flowers are profuse on the plant when mature and a spray of cut branches brought indoors for the vase is an unequalled match to anything you may find with the florist. Bare branches provide lines for the arrangement and those blooms will hold as cut material for up to a week, with other buds opening successively. In the garden the plant is even better. Any passers by are paused when the get a whiff of that fragrance. Think of the bush as a size similar to a lilac bush. It is just clothed in plain green pointed oval leaves in spring and summer and those turn yellowish and tan in fall, early winter before they drop. Culture is very easy, these are undemanding bushes, only needing regular watering, a partial to full sun positiion and almost no pruning. It just tales a while to locate the plant as it is not often asked for.
Winter daphne is a well tried and known favorite in either pink or white and plain green or variegated leaf forms. Drainage and cool roots are essential to success with this plant. Small flowers are very fragrant and delight all who may be drawn by the fragrance. Part sun to high shade suit it best, but it can get by in more sun if the roots are shaded and kept cool (with great drainage).
There are other daphne species as well. D. bholua is an upright shrub also gragrant in blush flowers, smaller leaves, and an untimately larger plant.
Winter honeysuckle bush comes in three forms. Lonicera fragrantissima, L. standishii, and their hybrid L. x. purpusii are hard to locate but well worth the effort. Here is an easy care bush. All are very similar in habit, looks, texture and care. VEry easy to grow, sun to shade(more sun = more flowers) regular watering and care, allow for width, perhaps an 8-10 ft circle for each bush. All are stiff arching growers, nondescript in foliage but the flowering is very long, perhaps beginning in Oct. or Nov. and finishing in May. small creamy honeysuckle flowers shaped in tube form dot the plant from a young age. These are fragrant and continue in succession. Make good cut material also.
Camellias have begun with the early C. sasanquas, and the new hybrids, and there are many more to come. Many begin blooming now, and others are soon to follow. Many species bloom early in the season. C. cuspidata blooms for up to 6 months, beginning in Oct and finishing in Apri/May. Single white floppy flowers open continuously and the plant blooms in mass displays. (Like a clooud of flowers over the canopy of the bush/tree). C. assimilis, fraterna, forestii, nokoensis, salicifolia, transnokoensis, transarisanensis, synaptica, tsaii all bloom early, many are about to bloom now, others will follow soon. With these species, they bring camellias as garden subjects to a whole new level. Very lacy graceful growth, fine texture, mass bloom display, and many have fragrance, some have tinted new growth, are all fine characteristics of the species. Easy care, acid soil, regular watering, part shade to full sun and patience are about all that is needed to grow these to perfection. They hybrids often result in mass blooming, often many are fragrant as well, and fine texture characterize one extreme of the hybridizing effort, the other is the great huge floral size, often spectacular blooms the size of small cabbages in glowing reds, irridescent pinks all with flaring ruffled petalage, but sometimes the growth is gaunt and unattractive when not in bloom.
Edgeworthia papyrifera is another winter bloomer. Japanese paper bush is a common name. Easy care, likes water, sunny location as well and no pruning, well not much anyhow. This will grow in tiers naturally, and small tubular yellow flowers are held in daisy like clusters pendulously and are also fragrant. lancelike leaves follow. Likes water.
Corylopsis and Corylus are also winter blooming. The former has showy yellow blooms in pendant clusters and the latter has pendant clusters/tassels of bloom. Easy care, shrubby, prune to shape or none at all, some corylopsis are fragrant. oval leaves in both genus.
Flowering quince (Chaenomeles) are beginning bloom now as well. Here you find roselike single to double flowers in whites pinks, read, oranges, black maroon red, and variegated. These are tough sturdy shrubs of character. Blooms will continue until perhaps June and often are followed by quince like fruits in yellow. There are dwarf and contorted stem forms.
Prunus mume is the firt of the flowering fruit trees to blossom and it is quite special when it does. Spicily fragrant blooms appear in white, pinks, reds, on upright, weeping and one contorted form. Older bark is almost black and is showy against the young fresh green shoots. Blossoming is profuse and they have an almost clean clove like scent. Folage resembles an apricot leaf. Easy to grow where there is adequate heat to ripen the wood, otherwise they can die for no apparent reason.
Some magnolias may also be seen in bloom now as well. Magnolia stellata(star magnolia) and M. loebneri, M. kobus, M, salicifolia with star shaped flowers and the saucer or tulip shaped bloomers/hybrids may be seen in early bloom now as well. All magnolias like space, mulched soil, regular watering and deep fertile soil on the slightly acid side with much organic matter applied. Magnolias are a large group and the hybridizing effort has yielded some amazing results in precocious bloom, larger flowers, larger color range, and size of bloom, and wider array of characteristics from which to choose.
Some handy tasks which can be done now are planting bareroot, potting on to larger containers or into the ground if soil is not saturated, general clean up of debris/leaves. Almost any hardy plant can be planted now, and fruit trees. Pruning can also be done in this cold dormant period.
Visiting gardens and nurseries now can yield some interesting finds. Foliage characterisitics pop out now since there is less to compete with foliage characterisitcs so variegated things shine as well as colored foliages. Think conifer colors in the needles. That makes a standout in the landscape. Bark colors intensify with the cold temperatures. Stripebark/snakebark maples are just stunning now. Many species of maple(acer) have green backround bark color with waxy stripes in white(Acer tegmentosum, A. ‘White Tigress’, a davidii, A. hersii grosseri, A. rubescens/morrisonense). There are other colors like brilliant yellow barkAcer rufinerve ‘Winter Gold’), and coral(Acer palmatum ‘Benikawa’,'Red Wood’,Sango Kaku’, orange(Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Sunrise’), scarlet bark, even purple and white stripes(A. “Silver Vein’).
And there are the paperbark maples as well, A. griseum, A. ‘Cinnamon Flake’ , and another unusual one with stiff crinkly bark peeling like shave chocolate curls (A. triflorum).
additional plants for winter bloom
Some additional plants for winter blooms include the hellebores (Helleborus species and hybrids). Just a few recent years ago there were but few of these easy care perennials from which to choose. Many were difficult to obtain as well. Nowadays there are vast choices. You can get color selections, varieties, species, and various double flowered forms. There has been much breeding work and that hybridizing effort has yeileded wonderful things for the gardener. You can get new yellow flowered cvs., various colors on eact petal, such as spotting or blotches at the base of petals in contrasting colors. Number of flowers per stem has increased. There are more selections in foliage characteristics as well. Serrated edged leaves, more leathery leaves, blue gray tones, etc.
Cyclamen species also can bloom during winter depending on what species you select. Here you will find easy care cormus bulbs which can grow large in time. Shooting star flowers in purples, lavenders, whites are obtainable. Foliage often is marked or attractively colored. Many species are fragrant.
Of the three bush honeysuckles that flower in winter, ease of care and long bloom periods are the norm. Stiff arching growth, long flowering period from November to May and ease of culture are all factors in their favor. Lonicera fragrantissima, L. standishii, and their hybrid L. x pupursii are wonderfully fragrant in the garden.
Ribes sanguineum glutinosum, R. indecorum, R. speciosum are now blooming. You will find lobed leaves and colorful flowers in clusters. The first comes in several select color forms including whites, pinks, and reds. R. speciosum (fuchsia flowered currant) is viciously spiny, but so wonderful in bloom any gardener simply MUST have it. Flowers are deep red, long stamens tassel below the petals which are pendant.
Several Daphnes are beginning blooming and are known for their fragrance. Good drainage is essential.
Forsythia will soon be in bloom and there are a great many selections which vary the simple fountain shape bush. Now we have very low shrubs which can be used as ground covers. And there are variegated and fringed leaf forms.
Flowering quince is also in bloom and these shrubs bring a bright note to the garden.
division of perennials
Winter is one of the best times to divide perennials in our local area. The dormancy of clumping perennials allows over crowded plants to be divided readily at this time. You have little top growth, the temperatures are low so that any loss of roots during the division process are minimalized, and the plant will grow much better now that there is room for each division without expanding into its neighboring shoots with resultant crowding of that spring growth. Almost all can be divided to satisfaction. Common items like daylilies(Hemerocallis), heuchera, chrysanthemum, anemone, dicentra, yucca, polygonatum, trycirtus, etc. readily divide and you will have much healthier plants to grow for spring and summer. There are many more from which to choose. A tip is to discard the woody, tired center of the clump mass if it seems nonvigorous, and plant the healthy divisions on the outside of the clump. Any insect infestations can be easily detected and measures taken to clean them out/eliminate them. As well, any diseases can be noticed and proper attention/spray applied or the plant discarded. In planting the divisions, you should apply compost or some other organic material to the backfill soil to give the dividions a great start. They do not need to be fertilized until late spring, or even summer if you do this. Do water the divisions in well to settle the new soil and give good soil root contact so your division efforts will be maximized. And keep the new plants moist during the growing season until well established. Another important tip is to check under eaves of roofs and heavy canopy trees to make sure that plants under them are not wanting for water. We are finally getting out rains and it is soaking wet in the garden, but not necessarily under the roof, close to walls of buildings, or under heavy foliage canopy trees. Do check the soil to see if it is moist and make sure that those plants are watered if they soil is dry. It is amazing how a thick mulch. layer of leaves can deflect water from reaching plant roots until that plant suffers from drought and even dies from lack of water. Suckering shrubs can also be divided now if you wish. The same basic principle applies, only the divisions you make will be larger in most instances. Kerria, flowering quince, some lilacs, creek dogwood, etc. are just a few examples of this.
Pruning the Less Common Classes of Roses
Now is also a good time to prune the less common classes of roses. The wild species and forms from them, shrub roses, hybrid musks, and so on can be included here.
As with all pruning, first remove any dead, diseased, or weak wood. Also think about old wood removal, too dense growth or excessively twiggy growth.
You can dead head(trim back) old flower tip shoots. Cut them back to healthy buds lower down on the small branch.
Look at the form of the bush. Direct your pruning cuts to enhance the natural form of the plant (especially if this is a species or shrub type rose.
Use SHARP pruning tools and you can also easily sterilize between cuts or definitely between plants by dipping your pruning tools into a mix of bleach and water between each cut as you prune.
The goal you seek is to keep plenty of wood which stores the nutrients within the plant(and the roots do as well), and to create a nicely shaped plant by following its natural growth form. (If your plant is young and you do not yet know its mature form, consult a knowledgeable source.
Do not be afraid to prune, plants are forgiving and the more you prune, the more experience you will get and become knowledgeable in time.
Tea and China classes need almost no drastic pruning. As a matter of fact, if pruned too hard, you can kill them. They grow from nearly all buds all over the plant, and bloom prufusely. Nodding flowers are thier hallmark, as well as pastel shades in the Teas, and cherry pinks in the Chinas. In warm winter climates, they are almost continuous bloomers.
Noisettes and Hybrid Musks are nice shrubby type classes, the noisettes being more vining and a bit more graceful in many varieties. frangrance which acrries on the breeze is characteristic of these, although not all have fragrance.
The hybrid musk group is recommended by rosarians to beginners since they actually will be fine without any pruning, but a little will give better floral results.
During the latter bloom period for many roses, one can leave spent flowers to form rose hips(heps) which are colorful and decorative in fall and winter.
Rose Pruning
The winter season is one of the best times for rose pruning. You can clearly see the stems and the overall structure of the plant. Dead wood should be removed first. Then progress on to old twiggy branches, remove them if growth seems too dense. If branches seem crowded, you can thin them or cut one back more than the other. Use these recommendations generally for all the rose groups.(species, shrub, hybrid mush, climbers, hybrid teas, floribundas, english, etc.)
The rose group is a very large one. Rose fanciers have grouped the various similar types into several groups for clarification and easier identification. The groups most gardeners know best are the Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, and the more recent English roses. Keen gardeners find the species and selections of great ornamental interest in the garden. The entire characteristics of the plant are taken into consideration, rather than just the flowers.
In this segment, I will discuss the basic proceedure of rose pruning for the more familiar groups.
Most gardeners know the hybrid tea roses as florist or garden roses. These give a pointed tall bud and cover a vast array of colors as well as unusual forms. More severe pruning is done with these to give a more vigorous flush of growth and bloom display. The plants vary somewhat depending on the variety, some grow smaller and others can be very large bushes. If you prune conservatively, you will have a larger plant after pruning, and that translates into more flowers.
The same pruning is for floribundas, but since these tend to be smaller plants, your pruning chore is much less in most cases with this group.
English roses cover a broader spectrum of floral form, bloom display (some are large and displayed singly, some are cluster bloomers, etc.) and the size of the plant will vary as well.
With all these groups the basic idea to create good light and air circulation in the center of the plant applies. you cut them back at least one third, some people severly cut them back to perhaps 18″, 2 ft. This heavy pruning will give vigorous new growth, but fewer flowers.
I prefer to cut back 1/2 at the most. You can always take growth off, but you cannot put it back once cut!
This allows growth to be vigorous, and also to conserve food reserves within the plant.
The old basic rule of thumb was to leave an open center, or a bowl shaped plant. Stems on the outside of the bush, and clear and open in the center.
Try not to leave stumps. Clean all debris from the immediate plant area. Disease spores can live in dead wood, and old leaves on the ground, so removal and good sanitation is an excellent way of helping to prevent disease and insect attacks.
In making your cuts, use sharp pruning tools and cut at about a 45 degree angle over the bud and about 1/4″ or so above the bud that you wish growth to take.
On most rose stems, you cut to an outward facing bud, away from the center of the bush. This will result in new growth in teh direction of the outside of the plant, thus keeping the center open.
Now is also a good time to spray you plants if needed. The basic framework of the plant is exposed and can be easily sprayed if needed.
Do any weeding at the base of the plant now as well.
When all this has been done, you can mulch the plant with an organic mulch material like compost fir bark. You can also apply mulch in the spring after growth commences. Mulch will help to conserve water in the soil and keep the roots protected from drought and keep weed seedlings from germinating easily. Keep the base of the plant free of deep mulch. You can apply 2-3″ over the root area otherwise.
When you cut flowers, think of it as conservative pruning as well. Cut back the stem to an outward facing leaf/bud on stems about pencil thick.
Most comercially propagated roses are budded on an understock with the desired variety on top. There is a scar/bulge to show this effort on most roses. (unless produced on their own roots)If your plant develops two kinds of foliage, it may be the understock and this has to be cut out. If these stems sprout from the roots, pull them out as a cut will only increase the resultant growth and need to be cut out again.
Colorful Potted Plants for Christmas / Holiday Season
We are all familiar with the ubiquitous poinsettia in its mainly red or white forms. Newer selections are larger bracted and come in additional forms and colors, cream, pinks, bicolors, splashed patterns and crinkled bracts.
Why not try something a little different like the wonderful Christmas cactus selections.
Here you will find easy care pot plants that can live for many years and privde seasonal blooms by the hundreds if well grown. You get hanging flowers of purple, whites, reds, rose, pinks, cream-golds. Jointed stems form an arching plant. Those same jointed stems can be severed from the mother plant and put into soil and will grow into new plants so you can increase your plant. These tropical cacti make wonderful presents and are truly breath taking when grown on to some size. They can be given as family hierlooms or passed from family member to the next generation. As a matter of fact, before there was much hybridizing done with this group, that was the only way to get plants… You had to know someone with a plant and they had to give you a slip of theirs to start one of your own.
In nature, these plants come from the tropics and grow on the mossy branches of trees like many orchids and bromeliads. They are epiphytes, growing on the branches of trees, but not harming the host plant.
They like a well draining soil mix, good diffuse light and some seasonal change in temperature. Freezing cold will kill them, so protect them when severe frost comes. They make wonderful easy care house plants. a missed watering will slightly shrivel the branches, but the plump up again when watered. The time of bud set is crucial in the sense that the plant should not be moved to a very different environment at that time or else you may cause it to abort the young flower buds. Being consistent in care will give the best conditions for setting buds and a profuse bloom.
A little fertilizer will promote better growth and enhance bloom. Any fertilizer will do alright, just use it very sparingly and water it in well.
The plants can spend the majority of the time outdoors from spring to fall, early winter. Just avoid frosty periods. They like a dappled sun location or high shade if placed outdoors. Many people just leave them inside all the time and they will bloom nicely if they get some good light or sunshine (not severe hot sun!)
An individual hybridizer produced several hundred named forms so that the once limited color range has broadened considerably. Many shades of purple, lavender, pink, rose, red, whites, and cream-gold now can be found. the plants will have jointed stems with either scalloped edges or soft tipped pointed edges to those stems. The pointed edge forms are sometimes called ‘crab’ cactus.
Botanically these are known/marketed as either Schlumbergera or Zygocactus.
Another easy care plant for the holiday season are Amaryllis hybrids (Hippeastrum spp. and cvs.) These are large bulbs which can be timed to bloom almost to the day. The flowers are huge(to 10″ ) and can come in shades of reds (the very dark ones are truly spectacular), pinks, whites, creamy yellows, bicolors(usually red and whites), and petals striped. Additionally, there are doubles and smaller flowered forms which produce more stalks of blooms.
These bulbs usually produce one thick flower stalk, good culture will yield two stalks, but the small flowered forms will give up to 5-6 stalks from several clustered bulbs in the same pot. Often, but not always, the foliage comes either with the blooms or shortly after the flowers fade. Wide straplike foliage with rounded tips emerge fromt ehe large bulbs.
Good drainage, a warm bright-sunny location and regular watering are all that is needed. A fit of fertilizer will give better growth and help in making food for next year’s bloom. These bulbs can increase over time and then you can have several pots in bloom eventually.
The bulbs should be allowed to go dormant at some point when the foliage yellows. Just let the bulb go completely dry and rest them for several months. You can actually time the bloom by initiating watering once again. It can take about 6 weeks to bloom after a dormant period. Time and experience will tell you what your conditions give to get the approximate timing of flowering for a special date.
