When I was a child , we took down all our Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night , the Christian spread of Epiphany , also screw in some cultures as Three business leader Day . The roping would make out off the staircase , the Christmas tree diagram would go out the door , and the holly and evergreens would be bunch up and throw forth . We would drink the last of the holiday eggnog , exchange one small gift apiece , and get ready to settle in for the rest of a very long Upstate New York winter . For several calendar week the firm looked unfinished and a little sad , rifle of its vacation adornment .
Now , as luck would have it , the cooking stove of holiday plants has turn large , and it ’s no longer necessary to denude your menage or apartment just because the festive season has take place . Of course , some thing , like theChristmas tree , have to go . There are some municipality that will put yourtree through a chipper - shredder and hand you backa bag of mulch for the garden . If your municipality is not among them , at least reprocess the branches by clip them off and using them as wintertime mulch on some of your beds . you could accomplish most of the trimming with a heavy pair of pruner , and it means that less of your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree has to be haul away and disposed of .
Inside the house , take ancestry of the various vacation plant and arrangements . If you have holly in skunk or vessel , it has credibly dried out pretty soundly and should be ready for the compost mickle . On the other hand , evergreen boughs , if you have keep back them decently watered , may stay green for several week . corrupt some cheap lily-white mini carnation and arrange them among the evergreen . The effect will be decorative without shouting “ Happy Holidays ” .
Then there are the Mexican flameleaf . If I had a one dollar bill for every mortal who has ever write agarden advice column wonder how to keep lobster plant going after the holiday and coerce them to bloom the undermentioned yr , I would be as robust as Bill Gates . Still , unless you bought the poinsettias at the start of November , they do n’t commonly fade until mid - January . Even after the red bracts have departed the scene , you could mass two or three poinsettiaplants together as a greenaccent . By the time they start out to reckon leggy , you will be thoroughly tired of them , so don’tfeel guiltywhen you haul them out to the kerb . They have done their best and so have you , your investment in them has been amortized , and the sentence has come to move on .
You do not have to part with Christmas amaryllis , however . Amaryllis have become so pop , that now at least one of the major gardenplant retailers devotes almost an entire holidaycatalog to them . It is really a ignominy to throw them out after they have put on their splendid show because with only a bit of movement , you could make them blossom again next yr . Once the plant has fetch up blossom ( and each one unremarkably produces two disjoined blossom stalk ) , turn off off the tall stalk . Keepwatering and fertilise the plant , and it will station out lot of long strappy unripened leaves . If you find the leaves unattractive , grouping your amaryllis in a cheery spot forth from public scrutiny .
Remember that the foliage are important , as they are farm nutrients for those handsome fertile bulbs . If you have an appropriate spot , put your amaryllis alfresco for the summer , where they can absorb warmness and sunshine . Water when the top of the dirt is dry , and feed on a regular basis . I have always made a point of bringing my potted bulbs in on Labor Day , cutting off the water , salt away them in the cellar , and letting the plants go torpid for 12 weeks . Usually , at the remainder of that time , the bulbs will have begun a new cycle and will be putting forth the tips of green flower stem . I repot the bulb , retrovert them to a gay windowsill , and let them do their thing all over again .
Some authority are now read that the dormancy time period is unneeded , and that amaryllis can be treated like any other houseplant . If you decide to take that itinerary , land the plant in at summertime ’s remnant , repot if necessary , and spot on that sunny windowsill . Keep tearing , and the bloom cycle should repeat .
Perhaps this yr I will do a hold experiment with two bulbs and see which one fare better . Certainly take out the dormancy period gives you one less thing to think about , and one less affair to lose in the cellar or garage or other dark recess of your dwelling .
Christmas cactus is another flora that can flourish from yr to year , allow for it has regular care . There are different school of opinion on the best way to boost reblooming , but most experts advise place the Christmas Cactus in a sunny indoor windowpane , watering only when the soil feel wry , then setting it in a semi - shaded outdoor emplacement in the summertime . Once fall arrives , bring the cactus indoors , and cease watering it for the calendar month of October . If all goes well this should stimulate blossom .
So take your lacrimation can in hand , and make employment of those holiday plants . If you be given to suffer from post - holiday letdown , you already know that in January friends may “ hole out up ” for the winter , and lovers may go into hibernation . If you make for it properly , though , you may get by with a little help from your flora .
