Gardening: Make Your Home Decor Merry And Bright By Adding Some Holiday Flowers

© University of Florida Forced to bloom indoors, white paper flowers add simple elegance to holiday decorations.

Now that sub-zero temperatures have settled into Greater Columbus, gardeners have outdoor work to do. If you're like me and can't wait to start growing things again, consider growing plants for holiday decorations.

Live plants can add a fun touch to any holiday decorations you choose, and gardeners who feel the need to get back to the ground early can put traditional holiday plants back to work. Let's take a look at some plants you can grow to decorate your vacation home.

White paper lanterns

While white bulbs add beautiful white flowers to any holiday decor, consider adding color to the traditional green this season with red and gold accents. Paperwhites ( Narcissus Tazetta ) are bulbs similar to daffodils, and their delicate white flowers with a hint of yellow on tall, slender stems are the perfect backdrop for most holiday decorations and provide a contrasting color. With traditional red flowers and green festive branches. Ribbons and bows.

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© Photo courtesy of Mike Hogan

The term forcing is used to refer to a plant that blooms outside of the normal season, and most bulbs are forcing. Most flower bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and others can bloom indoors in winter, but these bulbs must go through a 3-week chilling period, daffodils for 16 weeks tulips. Paperwhites and Amaryllis are the only flowering bulbs that do not require a cold period to bloom as they grow in the tropics.

Paper whites are now starting to color for Christmas

Peppers bloom four weeks after planting, so start planting them now at the height of the holidays. Most gardens offer white bulbs for winter planting, and some offer bulbs already planted and grown in decorative containers. Paperwhites can be grown in clay soil, but they can be grown without soil or in water with festive colors of decorative pebbles, stones or marble.

Part of the fun of growing white-leafed plants for holiday decorations is choosing a container to plant them in. Bulbs can be grown in holiday pots, vases, teapots, clay pots, clay pots or any container that is the focal point of your holiday decorations. Individual bulbs planted in gel containers make a great gift for a host or teacher.

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Start at the bottom of the container by adding 1 to 2 inches of gravel or rock to the soilless foliage, then place the bulbs root-down (bulbs up) on top of the rock. Then place the stones on the sides of the lamp so that they are visible above the stones. Then add water to the bottom of the bulbs. Bulbs should not be immersed directly in water. The container should be placed in a well-lit place and water should be added if necessary.

Forcing amaryllis bulbs for holiday decoration

Amaryllis blooms in various shades of red, pink, and white with large trumpet-shaped flowers on tall, graceful stems that adorn a large winter festival. Amaryllis (genus Hippeastrum ) is a bulb native to Central and South America that takes its name from the Greek word for "tea," and clusters of these plants are sure to add some sparkle to your holiday decor.

These bulbs usually take six to seven weeks to germinate after planting, but experienced gardeners can purchase pre-planted bulbs from local garden centers and gift shops to grow for Christmas and New Years.

For amaryllis care, make sure the soil is slightly below the bulb to avoid fungal diseases. Water well once a week when the soil feels dry. Place it in a sunny window and turn the pot occasionally to prevent it from bending as the plant grows.

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Bring the poinsettia out of the dark

If you've been nurturing your poinsettia plants for rebloom this holiday season since last December and kept the plant in complete darkness for 12 hours each day for the past 10 weeks, your plant should develop bracts. (or sheet). The poinsettia is a short-day plant that requires constant periods of darkness for new shoots to grow each day for 10 weeks.

Once your new colorful blocks are fully grown, you can stop your daily darkness and move the plant to a sunny spot among your holiday decorations. Make sure to keep the soil moist and stop fertilizing.

Mike Hogan is a senior lecturer in agriculture and natural resources and an associate professor at OSU Extension.

hogan.1@osu.edu

This article first appeared in the Columbus Dispatch: Gardening: Make your home decor fun and attractive by adding holiday colors.

Vlad and Niki completed their Christmas to-do list