November 5

Winter is around the corner and it is time to revisit some of the information I gave you last year. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I posted a number of articles last fall on getting ready for the winter.  So rather than repeating myself, I thought I should give you a summary and tell you where to get more information.

You should have already brought your houseplants into a protected area with the intent of taking them inside. There are two postings from last September that are good references for bringing your plants back in as well as saving some of your favorite garden plants through cuttings. 

Green For Christmas

Begonias are easy plants to start from
cuttings and will root quickly

New plants from cuttings are inexpensive Christmas gifts and now is the time to get them started.  Even friends with 'not to green thumbs' love to get plants as gifts, especially if it is from someone whose gardening skills they admire. The post entitled Saving Your Favorites tell you how to make a Propagation Container to created new plants from cuttings. Choose something that they have admired in your home and trim just below a leaf nod. You will need at least one remaining leaf and one nod with leaf removed for a good cutting. The not with the leaf removed will be buried in your potting medium. Here is a link to a diagram showing the Parts of a Plant. You can see that the nod is where the leaf has emerged from the stem.  The bud right above the leaf is where the root will emerge. The amount of time to get a good root is between 4 to 6 weeks so don't wait. Of course you could use the new plants as boxing day gifts or if you want a little more show, start now for spring.

Red for Christmas

The poinsettias you saved from last year should be placed in a spot that will give them a full 10 hours of darkness.  They can take up to 7 weeks to develop buds. My favorite trick is to place the plant in the closet when you get home from work around 6 or 7 P.M. and take it out on you way to work around 6 or 7 A.M.  Check out my January posting So what are you going to do with your poinsettia now? for more detail.

The Legend of Poinsettias

A charming story is told of Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve services. As Pepita walked sorrowfully to church, her cousin Pedro tried to console her. "Pepita," he said, "I am certain that even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes." Pepita gathered a bouquet of common weeds from the roadside, for this was the only gift she could give. As she entered the chapel and approached the alter, her spirits lifted. Forgetting the humbleness of her gift, the girl laid the weeds at the feet of the Christ Child. Suddenly, Pepita's ordinary weeds burst into brilliant red blooms! This miraculous event was named the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night. Today, we call these flowers poinsettias.

Today, Poinsettias come in a variety of colors and patterns and new ones are introduced every year.  Some of my favorites are Jingle Bells, Merry Christmas 2, Lemon Drop and Pink Elf.  Keep an eye out for them to shake up the usual at Christmas.

More Color, Give Me More Color

You should be feeding your Holiday Cactus as they are getting ready to put on their show.  Plant your Amaryllis Bulbs and your Paperwhites. If you haven't kept any bulbs from previous years, give yourself an early Christmas present.  These also make great hostess gifts for Thanksgiving. December 2012 postings will give you more information along with some great links on how to start and care for these plants.  

That's all for today.  Please comment on this post and tell me what you think. If I can help with any plant questions post them below or email me at houseplantsos@gmail.com . 

Sincerely,

k.k.jones

Is it Poisonous?

One of my readers sent me this question that has me talking about our Poinsettia plant again and I thought that this would be a good time to talk about the toxicity of houseplants.

The Poinsettia

First, the Poinsettia has been long rumored to be poisonous. The story of a poisoning of a child in 1919 after ingesting a few leaves cannot be confirmed as there is no medical record of the incident. The truth is that many tests have been on rats and rabbits that were feed large amounts of this plant with no effect.  However, the milky sap has been know to be an skin irritant and there are toxins in the plant that may have an adverse effect on some small children and pets. The death of a small dog in Switzerland was attributed to eating Poinsettia leaves is one isolated occurrence.

The Aracae Family

The most common Dieffenbachia

Dieffenbachia

The most dangerous houseplant in my opinion is the Dieffenbachia.  The sap of the plant when it comes in contact with moist parts of the body will cause immediate swelling with redness and stabbing pain.  The good thing about this is that if leaf is chewed, the swelling will hopefully prevent swallowing.  The bad part is that that the swelling can last several days with a lot of drooling.  In severe cases there will be a loss of speech - hence its name which translates to Dumb Cane. 


The Dieffenbachia is favored for its large patterened leaf.  The oldest one I know is the one pictured above.  I remember my mother had one in her livingroom when I was growing up.  It finally fell over when it reached a heighth of 8 feet and the ceiling of the room was only 71/2 feet.  Since then there have been many different leaf patterns offerings on the market.  I have two of them pictured here.
 



More plants in the Araceae family to watch are the Anthurium and Philodendron.  The Anthurium is loved for its simple bloom that comes in a variety of reds, pinks and whites.  A larger variety also has a purple blossom.  It has not had any case of serious poisoning reported.  The Philodendron which is a large genus has been responsible for skin complaints.  Care should be used around animals as there was a report written in 1961 by Greer that cited 72 cases of cats in which 37 died from eating Philodendrons.


This picture is the split leave variety call the Saddle Leaf  Philodendron. This is a large family so if you are not sure ask.

Other plants to be careful with are in the Amaryllis family which include the Daffodil. The poisonous part of these plants is the bulb and most reported poisonings were when the bulb was confused with an onion.  Digestion of the leaves will cause salivation, vomiting and diarrhoea.  As you can see, this can be very dangerous for a small child.

If it happens call for help

There is a lot to remember so try to keep it simple.  Take care in where you place your plants.  If you have large floor plants, it is OK to put a stake that identifies what it is.  Have the Poison Control number right next to your Doctor's.  Then if you find that you child, dog or cat has chewed on a plant you will have the information at your disposal for the center when you call.   It is best to be safe than sorry. 

I want to thank my reader who submitted this question.  It is an important issue to remember when bringing plants into our homes.  If you have any other questions, post them here or email me at houseplantsos@gmail.com .

k.k.jones

So what are you going to do with your Poinsettia now?

Christmas is over and that beautiful plant on the dining room table is starting to get a little ragged.  There still are a lot of red leaves on it but some of the branches have broken off and the lower leaves are curled or gone.  It really is not what you want on the table any more.  So what are your options?  

The choice most people make is to throw it out and buy another one next year.  That would be easiest but if you wanted to do that you would not be reading this posting. So let's continue to the next option.

The next option is to save the plant.  I have found that to do this it is best to put it the plant to sleep.  This means to stop the watering and trim the plant to about 4 or 5 inches tall.   This will encourage the plant to remain compact.  The larger the plant the taller the stalks should be after trimming.  There should be no leaves left on it. Now you can set it somewhere safe. Check on it from time to time and when you start to see green leaf buds you will need to start watering it again and giving it sunshine.  Now just let it grow.  Remember to fertilize.  Keep it compact during the growing season.   By October stop trimming so that the Poinsettia can start setting it's bloom.

The third option is to just let it grow.  I have planted Poinsettias in the garden once the danger of frost is over and they have grown quite large.  It makes a beautiful green annual that will be as big as a small bush in no time.  Now what if you want to keep it as a houseplant?  The only reason that you would want to do that is because you want to try and get it to bloom again. 

How to make a Poinsettia to Bloom

The Poinsettia blooms through photoperiodism which means it is the amount of light and dark that triggers the bloom.  It not only wants full sun for 10 hours and it also needs full darkness for 10 hours.  That is why the Poinsettia blooms in the winter.  If you want your poinsettia to bloom then you will have to recreate nature.  A greenhouse is the easiest route.  Next location is a unused room that faces south and has no streetlight out side the window.  If these options are not open to you, here is the last hope.  Every night when you come home from work, place your plant in the hall closet.  In the morning when you open the closet to take out your coat and head for work, put your plant in the window.  Keep this up for about 7 weeks.  You plant may not actually bloom, but you should get you red leaves and that is an accomplishment few can brag about.

This is my last Christmas posting.  I have not seen any pictures from you so I am again encouraging you to send me your pictures.  I will post them along with any advice you would like concerning the care of plants.  Please contact me through this blog or email me at joneskathee@gmail.com .

Poinsettias for Christmas

Countdown to Christmas

This Thursday is Turkey Day. For those of you who are unaware of the American holiday of Thanksgiving, this is the day we gorge ourselves with good food surrounded with family as we thank God for all we have before we make out our Christmas list for Santa. Yes, Thanksgiving is the official kickoff of the holiday season and with that comes the much loved Poinsettia. 

The poinsettia is a member of the Euphorbia family and originally hails from Mexico.  Starting as a simple red flower, hybrids have given us colors and patterns of red, pink and white. Each being more beautiful than the next.

But you know all this.  What you want to know is how can you keep it looking beautiful for the whole Christmas season.  So let's start at the beginning.

Choosing your poinsettia.  First you have to know that the coloring you see on the plant is not the flower.  The red (or what ever you have chosen) are leaves that have colored to attract pollinators to the little flowers in the middle of the leaves.  I hope you can see them in the picture I have included.  If you are buying your poinsettias early, be sure that you pick a plant that has not blossomed yet.  The buds should be tight and green.  Later they will open to reveal small yellow petals and longer stamen with read tips.  These plants will stay fresh the longest.  As for plant structure, choose a compact plant.  The branches are brittle and the compact plant branches will not break as easily. 

After you get you poinsettia home is when the hard part starts.  The poinsettia likes full sun but needs a minimum of 10 hours of complete darkness to set a bloom.  The bloom is already set so the complete darkness is not as important as the sun.  Where this becomes difficult is that most of us want to use our beautiful plant within our decorations. 

Here is what I have to say about that.  Place the poinsettia in an area where it will get what it needs to flourish.  Give it full sun that is out of drafts.  Keep it damp but not wet.  One hour before your company comes.  Place your plant where you want it to steal the show. Please do not put it too close to the fireplace. If you want to keep it in the same place all of the time you will have to plan to replace the poinsettia every 2 weeks.  The only other option is to buy silk.

After Christmas we will talk about keeping your poinsettia until next year.  If you have any questions, add a comment to this page or email me at joneskathee@gmail.com

Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving.
k.k.jones