Colorful Houseplants to Celebrate the Season

 

While Poinsettias, Christmas cactus and cyclamen are the most popular plants this time of year, if you’re looking for something different to help ring in the new year, think about plants that can be grown successfully indoors year-round. As a rule, these houseplants do well indoors if you locate them where they’ll receive bright, indirect light, average room temperatures and consistent watering. If you struggle with keeping houseplants watered correctly, consider buying a moisture meter to help you decide when to water your plants. If adequate light is an issue, plant grow lights are available to supplement the existing light. Many grow lights will fit a standard lamp fixture, making it convenient to add more light to the area you want to grow in. When it comes to maintaining your plants over-all heath, plan to feed your plants on a regular basis with an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer such as 10-15-10. Listed below are just a few of the plants you can grow successfully indoors.  

Valued for its dark green leaves striped with white veins, the Zebra plant makes a beautiful houseplant. Does best in bright, indirect light.  

Croton also features very colorful foliage.  

Winterberry is a perennial that can be planted outdoors come spring or grown indoors. 

Calathea features bold, oblong leaves.  

Potted citrus offers fragrant blossoms and fruit. 

 

 Orchids do well in an East-facing window and typically bloom twice a year.  

For low to medium light areas, choose Triostar, a slow growing plant that does well in medium to bright light or 

 

Chinese Evergreen.  

 

Pilea, known for their bright green leaves, can adapt to low light areas. 

Many of these plants purportedly bring good luck and fortune. True or not, the addition of plants to your home or office is an excellent way to begin the new year.    

 

Norfolk Island Pines: A Living Christmas Tree and More

  

Norfolk Island Pines are popular houseplants, even more so this time of year because many people use them as living Christmas trees. You can find Norfolk Island Pines in a variety of sizes, from less than a foot to over 5' tall. The smaller trees make ideal table-top Christmas trees. 

Keeping your Norfolk pine healthy and looking good through the holidays and beyond comes down to these things. Norfolk pines like bright, indirect light, at least 6 hours a day. It's a good idea to turn them every few weeks to keep them from growing lopsided. They do best with consistent watering. Water your tree when the top inch or two of soil feels dry. Water thoroughly and be sure there is no standing water left in the saucer under the plant. Norfolk pines like to be in place where the room temperature is sixty-five to seventy degrees and away from drafts. The more difficult part of keeping your Norfolk pine looking lush is to provide sufficient humidity. Norfolk pines like high humidity. Some ways to increase room humidity is to group your plants close together, use a pebble tray under the tree or add a room humidifier.  

A pebble tray is easy to assemble and an effective way to raise the humidity level around your plants. Fill a saucer with rocks and add water until the rocks are slightly above the water line; then place the plant on top of the rocks. Make sure the water level is below the bottom of the pot. 

From spring to mid-summer, fertilize your Norfolk pine every two weeks with grow formula fertilizer such as 12-6-6. 

During the rest of the year, feed every four weeks, using Super-thrive as a supplement. Norfolk Island pines are great for easy to grow houseplants and with a little care will bring a bit of the forest indoors for many years to come.  

Gift Ideas for Gardeners

  

Whether the gardener on your list enjoys growing tomatoes, vegetables, flowers or roses, having the right tool makes every job easier. Gifts such as a good set of pruners, a pair of trimming scissors, scoops and trowels and gardening gloves will be appreciated by gardeners of all ages and experience levels. 

 

A quality set of hand pruners is an essential tool for every gardener. They'll use them to prune roses, perennials, shrubs and small tree limbs. A bypass hand pruner is usually the best choice for most home gardeners. Hand pruners are available for right-handed as well as left-handed gardeners.  

 

Trimming scissors are handy tool to have for some of the finer work in the garden, such as deadheading and light pruning. They are also useful indoors for keeping houseplants neat and trimmed. This is the tool we use at the 'Bin for all of our trimming chores.  

 

Garden scoops and trowels are useful for many tasks, including digging, weeding, filling pots with soil and planting. These tools are hand-forged with hardwood handles and will last.  

 

If arthritis has made gardening more difficult, choose ergonomically designed tools. They’re lighter weight and have handles designed to offer maximum joint protection.  

For the indoor gardener, a good watering can is essential.  

 

Finish up your Christmas shopping for your gardener with a good pair of gloves. 

And while you’re at it, pick up a kneeling pad. This one has a convenient key chain included. These are Christmas gifts your gardener will really use, and they'll think about you every time they do.  

 
 

 

How to Care for your Flower Bin Poinsettia

 December 12 is national Poinsettia Day, so named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and the person responsible for introducing the poinsettia plant to the United States. Poinsettias are native to Mexico and Central America. The poinsettia we know today is a result of the significant contributions of Horticulturalist Paul Ecke Jr., whose innovations transformed the poinsettia into the country’s best-selling potted plant.  

Poinsettias have thin foliage leaves that vary in color from pale to dark green. The showy parts of the poinsettia that most people think of as flowers are specialized leaves, called bracts. The actual flowers are tiny yellow clusters found at the very center of the bracts. In nature, the brightly colored bracts are there to protect the plant and to attract insects to the flowers in order to spread the pollen.  

Poinsettias are available in a wide variety of breathtaking colors from solid red to variegated leaves. We also dye a few poinsettias for added color and interest. Our dyes are safe for the plant and people. 

Proper care for your poinsettia begins before you leave the store. If you choose, we will gift wrap your poinsettia in foil and ribbon. We cut a drain hole in the foil on the plants we wrap so your plant will drain properly.  We will carefully bag your poinsettia when it’s cold, to protect it on its way home. Once you get your poinsettia home, unwrap it and place it in a room where it will get bright light, but not direct sunlight.  Poinsettias don’t like drafts, so keep your plants away heater vents, fireplaces, doors and cold windows. The ideal room temperature should be around 72°F during the day and no cooler than 60°F at night. Water your poinsettia thoroughly when the soil surface is dry to the touch. Poinsettias don’t like to sit in water, so discard any water that may collect in the saucer under the plant. With the proper care, your poinsettia will last through the holiday season and retain its beauty well into the New Year. If you decide to keep your poinsettia after the holidays, you should care for it as you would any other houseplant. Keep it in a bright location, out of direct sun, water it regularly and fertilize with an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer, plus Super Thrive with Kelp.   

At The Flower Bin, we grow all our own poinsettias, so you can be assured that the plant you are purchasing is locally grown and of the highest quality.