10 of the best Christmas plants
Winter might be a little sparser when it comes to blooms, but there are still some stunning plants, great for bringing colour to colder nights.
We love the spare, sculptural beauty of winter, with its dark branches and twinkling frosts, but there’s still colour to be had in the chillier months with many popular winter plants featuring bright leaves or berries. They make a spectacular contrast to the stark beauty of outdoors and are a wonderful way to bring life to festive decor. Here are 12 of our favourites, from Christmas classics like poinsettia and holly, to delicate beauties like the Christmas rose.
Poinsettia
Okay, let's kick things off with a classic. The ever-popular and always beautiful poinsettia just had to feature on this list. With a striking plumage of red and green leaves (called brachts), this Christmas plant adds a festive touch to any room. Better still? It lasts ages. The poinsettia is associated with wintry weather in the West because of its jovial colours but also because it resembles a star (a key part of the Christmas story), but it’s actually indigenous to Mexico and Central America.
You can keep a poinsettia looking its festive best by checking its soil regularly – think of it like the Goldilocks tale, the soil shouldn't be too wet or too dry, but somewhere in the middle. Wilting or yellowing leaves suggest that it needs a water and it's worth noting that this special plant needs warmth and light to thrive (remember it evolved in brighter, warmer climes than Europe!)
Mistletoe
Another Christmas icon, most of us know mistletoe because standing under a spring of it means a kiss! Where did kissing under mistletoe come from? Well, one theory is that it came from Norse mythology. The story goes that Baldur, Son of Odin, was killed using an arrow laced with mistletoe berries (it’s very much not a myth that all parts of mistletoe are poisonous). Fortunately, he was resurrected and his mother Frigg was so overjoyed she vowed to kiss any living creature that passed under the mistletoe.
Despite us associating mistletoe with Christmas cuteness (or awkwardness, depending on how you feel!), it is in fact a parasitic plant. It grows around other trees (you can’t grow it in a pot or on its own) and can eventually cause them harm, so be mindful of that if you fancy growing some at home.
Holly
One of the few glimpses of colour you’ll find outdoors in UK winter, the rich red of holly berries is always a festive sight. Quite right then that holly is the birth flower for December.
This spiky beauty also has a long history, rich in myth and legend. In Ancient Rome boughs of holly were exchanged to celebrate Saturnalia, a festival of the harvest in September. It was sacred to the Celts, and sprigs in the house were thought to ensure the return of spring (the National Trust has some other great holly lore).
Christmas Rose
The Christmas rose is not really a rose at all – it’s part of the buttercup family – but it takes the name because it resembles a wild rose. A gorgeously subtle bloom, its delicate freckled petals look wonderful as part as a bouquet or dotted around a homemade wreath.
Another flower with a long history, according to the Royal Horticultural Society it took the name ‘Christmas’ because of a its mythic origin story – it was said to have sprouted from the tears of a young girl, weeping that she had no gift to gift the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Of course, it could also be because it blooms close to Christmas, tracking the history of common flower names is no easy task.
Despite its gentle appearance the Christmas rose is poisonous, and was used in antiquity to help people vomit. That’s definitely not very festive, so keep it out of the way of any small people or pets who might munch it by mistake!
Christmas Cactus
If its winter colour you’re after, a Christmas Cactus, or Schlumbergera, is a winner. It’s a tropical house plant that explodes into colour around the festive period, and it develops well over the years, producing more and more flowers each winter if it’s given a little TLC. Expect lots of hot pink or red flowers, on the end of long rich green trailing leaves (which also look good year-round without blooms too).
A Christmas Cactus makes a great gift for the non-gardener, because it’s a tough little beauty. All it needs is a bright spot, a reasonably cool room and a little water now and then. And if they repot it once a year, it’ll grow a little more and keep producing more of those vibrant flowers.
Christmas Cacti are another visitor from balmier climes, they’re native to the humid forests of Brazil where they grow attached to trees. We’ve come to know them as the Christmas Cactus because in the northern hemisphere they bloom in winter.
Rosemary
Not just for stuffing that turkey, rosemary is a Swiss army knife of a plant – great for all sorts of things. Take a potted rosemary plant and prune it into the shape of a Christmas tree, ready to feature in your kitchen (you can even add a few small baubles for that final festive touch). Feature cuttings of the plant in your homemade wreath so guests get a waft of the beautiful smelling herb as they come through the door.
Of course you must use a few sprigs for the Christmas dinner, but did you know it also makes a great accompaniment to a cheese board? The sprigs make everything look a little lovelier, plus the scent goes so well with savoury treats. And we’d even recommend adding a small cutting of rosemary to a G&T with a zingy slice of grapefruit. Delicious.
Cyclamen
One of the few flowers that blooms outdoors in late winter, cyclamen comes in all sorts of gorgeous shades – but it’s usually the deep reds we admire and welcome indoors at Christmas. It’ll need a cool, bright spot and It'll keep coming back each year if you leave it to rest in the summer.
This lovely little plant is native to Turkey but pops up in England in the 1600s and has been popular ever since. It’s said to symbolise love and sincere affection, making it a lovely gift for close friends, family or a partner.
Ivy
The hardy ivy plant is a winter favourite, as its tendrils continue to grow and reach out even during the coldest of temperatures. Feature a pot of cascading English ivy on a shelf and intertwine flickering fairy lights between its shoots to create a pretty and subtle Christmas decoration.
Or, to quote the Christmas carol, pair 'the holly and the ivy' for a truly lovely display – we're thinking a wreath or a table decoration to go around a pillar candle.
Ivy has had a long relationship with the festive season. Farmers were once said to feed a sprig of ivy to their cows before midnight on Christmas Day, believing that this would protect them from the Devil. We wouldn’t recommend feeding the plant to your pets at home though, no matter how much protection they might need from infernal forces, as it could make them quite ill.
Amaryllis
A showy and vibrant red amaryllis aka Hippeastrum is one for a maximalist Christmas. They’re popular at Christmas purely for their festive colour, with bulbs planted according to strict timing to ensure they flower indoors in the colder months. The name Amaryllis comes the Ancient Greek verb which means to sparkle or shine – very appropriate given the amount of twinkling and sparkle around during the festive season.
Amaryllis makes a great Christmas gift for budding gardeners as it needs a little more work than a poinsettia. It’ll need a cool room with lots of light, and once it starts to flower it might need canes to support all those glorious blooms.
Spruce aka a Christmas tree
Of course, there's no other plant that rings in the Christmas season like a real tree, usually pine, spruce or fir. We love a little one in a pot that you can acclimatise slowly to live indoors in the run up to Christmas, then return to the outdoors for the rest of the year (a way to enjoy a Christmas tree without the environmental impact of a new one each year grown on a plantation).
So, when did we start dragging in trees from the outside and decorating them in our homes? Well, as with most of plant history it’s up for debate. We do know though that Queen Victoria was a key part of establishing Christmas tree traditions in the UK. In 1848 she shared an illustration of her family in front of a decorated tree in a London newspaper, setting a precedent for the role of the tree at Christmas.
