Garden Nations

Few plants bring as much colour into a grey December as an amaryllis. One plain-looking bulb, a pot and a bright windowsill, and a few weeks later you have giant trumpet flowers in red, white, pink or striped, just in time for Christmas. The best part: an amaryllis is one of the easiest bulbs to grow indoors. And if you treat it right after flowering, the same bulb can bloom again every winter for many years. Here is everything you need to know, from buying the bulb to getting it to flower a second time. Amaryllis or Hippeastrum? A Quick Name Check The bulb sold everywhere as "amaryllis" is botanically a Hippeastrum , a plant from the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America. The "true" Amaryllis ( Amaryllis belladonna ) is a South African plant that flowers in late summer. For your windowsill it makes no difference: the care below is for the Hippeastrum you find in every garden centre and supermarket in Europe from October on. When to...

Houseplants · Christmas Flowers The Cactus That Blooms in Winter (and Lives for Decades) How to water, place and time your Christmas cactus so it covers itself in flowers every December, and how to tell it apart from its Thanksgiving and Easter cousins. Some houseplants are bought for one season and forgotten. The Christmas cactus is the opposite. In many families it is the plant that grandma had on the windowsill, and the same plant (or a cutting of it) is still flowering 30 or 40 years later. In Germany it is called Weihnachtskaktus or Gliederkaktus, and it is one of the most loved winter-flowering plants in Europe. It is also one of the most misunderstood. People treat it like a desert cactus, give it full sun and almost no water, and then wonder why it never blooms. Or they move it around the house while it is full of buds, and all the buds fall off overnight. In this guide: what this plant really is, how to recognise the three "holiday cacti", the right ligh...

Houseplants · Christmas Flowers The Christmas Star That Doesn't Have to Die in January How to choose, water and place your poinsettia so it stays red all winter, and how to make it change colour again next year. Every November the supermarkets, garden centres and Christmas markets fill up with poinsettias. In Germany they are called Weihnachtsstern (Christmas star), and they are one of the best-selling pot plants of the whole year. And every January, a huge number of them end up in the bin, dropping leaves and looking sad. The good news: most poinsettias don't die because they are difficult. They die because of three simple mistakes: cold, too much water, and a bad spot . In this guide: how to pick a healthy plant, how to bring it home safely, the right light, temperature and watering, why the leaves fall, the truth about toxicity, and the step-by-step method to make it turn red again next Christmas. A Mexican Plant With a Winter Job The poinsettia ( Euphorbia...

Winter · Indoor Flowers Plant an Amaryllis Now, Enjoy Giant Flowers at Christmas One bulb, a small pot and a sunny window are all you need for huge, trumpet-shaped blooms in the darkest weeks of the year. Few plants give you so much for so little effort. An amaryllis bulb planted in autumn sends up a thick stem and opens four or more enormous flowers just when the garden outside is grey and bare. That's why you see them everywhere in shops and markets from November onwards. The good news: an amaryllis isn't a one-season plant. With the right care after flowering, the same bulb can bloom again for many years and even grow bigger over time. Amaryllis or Hippeastrum? The big bulbs sold as "amaryllis" are actually Hippeastrum , a plant from South America. The true Amaryllis belladonna is a different plant from South Africa that flowers outdoors in late summer. Everyone, including garden centres, uses the name amaryllis for both, so don't let the labe...