Poinsettia
Poinsettias are the most popular Christmas plant. One out of every four potted plants sold each year in the United States is a poinsettia, which adds up to 34 million poinsettias annually. They come in pink, white, yellow and striped, but it’s red poinsettias that are the stuff of classic holiday scenes. They make impressive gifts because a pot stuffed with big red blooms is stunning, but be sure to buy a poinsettia (or two) for yourself, too.
How to Care for It
Put your poinsettia in bright, indirect light and water it enough to keep the soil moist. They are the ultimate hothouse flower; they’ll wilt at temperatures below 60 degrees so keep them indoors.
Keep After the Holidays?
Unless you’re really, really into plants, no. The flower bracts will fall off after several weeks and getting the plant to bloom again takes work. It involves repotting, pruning, and giving the plant 12 hours daily of darkness and cool temperatures for three months the following fall to get blooms for Christmas. That’s why most people enjoy a few weeks of mid-winter glory from their poinsettia, then toss it in the compost pile.
Christmas Cactus
Christmas cactus is an old-time favorite. This exotic plant hails from the coastal mountains of Brazil so it brings a touch of tropical lushness to the grayness of winter. Its blooms come in brilliant shades of red, pink, orange and white. You can also get Thanksgiving cactus, another member of this holiday cactus family, that blooms in the late fall early winter and has a slightly different leaf shape.
How To Care for It
Put yours in a bright window and water it only when the soil’s dry and you’ll have blooms for several weeks during Santa season. Like all cacti, it stores water, so it doesn’t need much water from you.
Keep After the Holidays?
Yes! Christmas cacti can live for decades, and they’re easy to care for. Once its blooms fall off, put it by a sunny window. Don’t repot it. Christmas cactus do best when rootbound. When spring returns, take your Christmas cactus out to your patio, porch, or someplace where it can get bright, indirect light all summer. Leave it outside in the fall so that it gets a few weeks of cool nights in the 50s. That chill and darkness will make it bloom again in time for Christmas. Over the years it will turn into a sprawling plant with wands of leaves spilling over the sides of the pot.
Amaryllis Plant
Amaryllis is an exotic-looking flower that’s usually sold in a forcing kit for indoor Christmas blooms. A forcing kit is basically a bulb and a vase specially designed to nurture the bulb until it grows and blooms. Buy one around the middle of November for a flower by Christmas, because it takes four to six weeks for them to bloom. Watching the stem and flower buds arise from the bulb is magical. A single amaryllis bulb can produce a cluster of long-lived flowers. Red, white and red-and-white striped amaryllis are the most commonly sold colors for Christmas.
How to Care for It
Place it in bright, indirect light. Turn the pot every couple of days to keep the plant from bending toward the sun. Keep the soil moist, but don’t overwater.
Keep After the Holidays?
No. Bulbs that have been forced usually don’t rebloom the next year. Put it in your compost pile.
Paperwhite Bulbs
Paperwhite narcissus are delicate, fragrant white flowers that serve as a mid-winter reminder that spring will come eventually. They usually come in a bulb-forcing gift set with a planting medium and a pretty container to grow the flower over three to five weeks. If you want flowers right now, look for paperwhites that are already blooming.
How to Care for It
Put the container of planted bulbs in bright, indirect light and water regularly so the soil stays moist. Keep them cool so they won’t get leggy as they grow.
Keep After the Holidays?
No. Bulbs that have been forced usually don’t rebloom. Put them in your compost pile.
Orchids
These delicate-looking but sturdy tropical plants will bloom for a month or longer with little care from you. The most common variety sold are moth orchids which bloom in the fall and winter, making them a good Christmas flower. Orchids come in shades of purple and white on long, delicate stems. They’re a sculpture alternative to poinsettias and other more common Christmas flowers.
How to Care for It
Give your orchid bright, indirect light, like the kind that comes through a window. Keep them in a cool place inside and avoid sudden changes in temperature which will shock them and make their flowers fall off. They usually come in a soilless medium that you’ll need to water weekly until water runs out of the bottom.
Keep After the Holidays?
Yes! You can get an orchid to bloom again without much effort. And they can live for years. Prune the flower stem once the blooms fall off and put the plant in a sunny window. Feed it with fertilizer formulated just for orchids, water regularly, but let it dry out between waterings. In fall, put it where it can get temperatures 10 to 15 degrees cooler and back off on the water a bit to get it to bloom.
Norfolk Pines
Norfolk pines are sold as a sort of houseplant Christmas tree. They’re native to Norfolk Island, a territory of Australia in the South Pacific, so they are in no way cold hardy. They’re a good holiday plant pick if you live someplace too warm to keep dwarf evergreens alive once the holiday has passed. Put some mini-lights or tiny bows on it and it makes a lovely tabletop tree.
How to Care for It
Norfolk pines aren’t really pine trees. They’re a tropical plant more like a gardenia. Give it 6 to 8 hours of medium bright light a day and mist it with water to increase humidity in the air around it. Water it only when the soil is dry to the touch.
Keep After the Holidays?
Yes! Norfolk pines live for years as a houseplant. It prefers to be rootbound, so only repot every other year. It can survive outdoors in the spring and summer, but keep it out of direct light. Bring it indoors when the temperatures go below 40 degrees. You can use it for many Christmases to come.
Lemon Cypress Shrubs
Lemon cypress shrubs are a popular holiday plant because they are naturally shaped like a Christmas tree. These little trees have soft needles and a strong lemon scent, making them appealing living holiday décor. They won’t drop pointy needles on the floor, and they’re lime green, a bright alternative to the predictable deep green of mini spruces and pines.
How to Care For It
The biggest challenge with keeping these tiny trees indoors is getting enough sun for them. They need six to eight hours of direct sun a day, so put them in a sunroom or outside on a porch if you live in a climate where the winter temperatures stay above 20 degrees. Keep their soil evenly moist.
Keep After the Holidays?
Yes, if you live in USDA zones 7 to 10. You can keep it in a container where it will stay small, or transplant it in your yard where it will grow into a 15-foot tall tree.
Dwarf Alberta Spruce
The dwarf alberta spruce is essentially a tiny Christmas tree. It’s an evergreen that can withstand months of freezing temperatures, so put a pair of these on your front porch for outdoor holiday décor. Add bows, ornaments and tiny lights and you’ve got a Christmas-y display. They have fragrant needles, too, so you’ll get a whiff of Christmas tree scent every time you walk by them. You can bring them inside for a few days but since they need a lot of sun, they’ll be healthiest outdoors.
How to Care for It?
The biggest challenge with keeping these tiny trees indoors is getting enough sun for them. They need six to eight hours of direct sun a day, so they’ll be happiest outside. Keep their soil evenly moist.
Keep After the Holidays?
Yes. If you live in a cool climate it will live for years. Grow it in a large container, or if you live in USDA zones 3 to 8, transplant it outdoors and it will grow into a 6-foot tall tree. If you live somewhere warm like California, Florida or the Gulf Coast you may have trouble keeping a dwarf Alberta spruce healthy.
Live Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, you knew we’d include you on this list. Sorry fans of artificial trees, but no Christmas is complete without a live tree. Just look at the numbers. Americans bought 30 million real trees in 2021 and just 18 million fake ones. Some of the most popular ones sold in the U.S. include balsam fir, douglas fir, fraser fir, and scots pine. There’s just no substitute for the scent, the feel and even the needles on the floor from a live tree.
How to Care for It
Keep water in the tree stand because it’s basically a cut flower. Check water three times a week and refill as needed. Don’t put a tree too near a heater or hearth or it could dry out and drop needles.
Keep it After Christmas?
No. Compost it, or donate it to a dune renourishment program if you live near a beach.
Live Wreaths
What’s more festive than a fresh wreath made of living evergreen limbs? This isn’t a live plant, exactly, it’s more like a cut flower. The tradition of wreaths at Christmas began in the 16th century in northern Europe, when Germans took the branches they trimmed from their live Christmas trees and wove them into wreaths. Waste not, want not.
How to Care for It
Wreaths last longer when hung outdoors. They dry out faster indoors, turning brown and dropping needles. Don’t hang them in direct sunlight and do spritz wreaths with water regularly to keep them green.
Keep After the Holidays?
No, take it down and compost it. Its ephemeral beauty is part of its magic.
Live Christmas Garland
Like a wreath, live garland isn’t a plant per se, but it’s made of intertwined cuttings of fresh-cut pine limbs that bring the winter woods indoors. Drape it around a hearth, on a staircase or put on the handrails of your porch. It adds color and pine scent to your home, and it’s an elegant Christmas classic.
How to Care for It
Before you hang your garland, trim the ends and soak the garland in water over night. Let it dry out completely before hanging it. Spritz garland daily with water to keep it green and avoid hanging in a spot where it gets direct sunlight. Care for it as you do your other live greenery.
Keep it After the Holidays?
No, take it down and compost it. Garland, like Christmas, comes to an end.