Houseplants
| Published: 30th December 2007 19:55 |
Some Seasonal Thoughts....
Houseplants
December is the busiest month for the giving and receiving of houseplants as presents and many houseplants will give pleasure for a long time if cared for well. It is possible, however, to kill or damage plants with too much ‘kindness'.
Overwatering is one of the most common errors from the misguided gardener or ‘plant sitter', plants dying or becoming seriously affected by having their roots constantly in water, thus preventing uptake of oxygen to the plant - the equivalent of human drowning.During winter, unless they are in an excessively dry, centrally heated room, houseplants just need to be a little on the moist side.
Many plants grown in the house, cyclamens especially, benefit from being watered from below, the plants placed in a saucer filled with clay granules to allow circulation of air. Watering from the top, in the particular case of cyclamen, allows droplets of water to settle on top of the cyclamen corms, encouraging rotting. Keep cyclamen plants in a cool room, where possible, the ideal temperature being around 16 degrees centigrade (61 Fahrenheit).
Houseplants can give endless pleasure, given the right care and attention and I shall advise on the propagation of a few houseplants in a later article.
Mistletoe
We try to decorate our homes with evergreen material such as holly and build Christmas table decorations from evergreen plants but who has been lucky enough to find some mistletoe?
Mistletoe (Viscum album) has become well known over the years as a symbol for claiming a kiss. The mistletoe may be strategically placed above a door or an opportunist man or woman may coceal it about the person and brandish it triumphantly!
Mistletoe is a partial parasite, making some of its own food but also taking food from its host tree. The fruit and seed would be passed by a bird onto the branches of a tree, most commonly a lime or apple, and the seed would germinate, the plant hanging on to the host tree. It truly is a magical sight in winter, covering parts of an otherwise bare tree.
Retrieving the mistletoe from the trees can be a perilous operation but those brave enough to attempt a harvest of the mistletoe reap good rewards in its sale! A journey to a place such as Tenbury Wells in December will provide evidence of mistletoe's popularity, as whole days are devoted to the sale of mistletoe alone.
Over recent years, attempts have been made to manufacture mistletoe from plastic but somehow this is not quite the same as the real thing!
Merry Christmas and Happy New year!
Martin Horne
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