The best plants to decorate your home for Christmas
A living plant gives colour at Christmas and outlasts cut stems, if it goes in the right spot. Choose by your home: the cold, the light and the heating decide.
To decorate your home at Christmas with living plants, the safest choices are cyclamen, amaryllis, pink jasmine and poinsettia. Choose by your home: cool, bright rooms for the cyclamen, jasmine and amaryllis, and a mild spot without draughts for the poinsettia.
How do you choose a plant for Christmas?
Ask three things about the spot: is it bright? Is it away from radiators and doors? Does it stay cool at night? Christmas plants have different tastes, which is why the same room suits some and spoils others. A cool hallway that keeps a cyclamen happy for weeks may be too cold for a poinsettia, and a warm living room that suits the poinsettia may shorten a cyclamen’s flowers.
One rule holds for all of them: the finger in the compost decides. If you are unsure when to water, read how to tell if a houseplant needs water.
Cyclamen: colour that likes the cool
Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) bears white, pink or red flowers over patterned leaves. University of Wisconsin-Madison and Iowa State extensions say it prefers cool temperatures and bright, indirect light, and Iowa adds that coolness helps prolong the flowers. So a bright hallway or a room that doesn’t get very warm beats a spot beside the heating.
Watering is the tricky part: it likes moist compost but won’t tolerate wet, and a pot with a drainage hole helps stop the tuber rotting. A full guide will follow.
Amaryllis: the bulb that doubles as a decoration
Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) is often sold as a bulb ready to flower. The RHS and Clemson agree on the essentials: bright, indirect light and moderate watering, because too much water can rot the bulb. If the stem leans towards the window, turn the pot now and then, and tall, heavy flower stems may need a stake.
The RHS adds that a slightly cooler spot helps the flowers last once open. After flowering, sources differ on the stem (Clemson says wait until it yellows); the common thread is to keep the leaves, which feed the bulb.
Pink jasmine: scent by the window
Pink jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum) is the pick if you want fragrance. According to RHS listings and several nurseries, it wants bright light (sources differ on how much direct sun it takes) and a cool but frost-free winter. Several sources also say a cool spell in autumn helps set buds, and that it shouldn’t dry out completely or sit wet.
So if you buy it in bud or in flower, protect it from dry heat and draughts: it’s the kind of plant that drops flowers when conditions change suddenly.
Poinsettia: the classic, with conditions
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is the most photographed and the one that suffers most from the trip home and from cold. The essentials are in how to care for a poinsettia: bright, indirect light, no draughts or radiators, and water when the surface dries.
Summary: which plant where?
| Plant | Where it looks good | Light | The care that matters most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclamen | Cool, bright room | Bright, indirect | Moist compost, never soggy |
| Amaryllis | Bright table or sideboard | Bright, indirect | Little water; turn the pot |
| Pink jasmine | Bright, cool window | Bright | Cool winter; never bone dry |
| Poinsettia | Mild living room, away from doors | Bright, indirect | No cold or draughts |
Quick questions
Which is easiest to start with? It depends on the home: a cool room suits cyclamen, a mild living room suits poinsettia.
Can I group several together? You can, but remember their tastes differ: cyclamen prefers it cooler than poinsettia does.
What if my home is very warm? Go for amaryllis and keep it away from the radiator; heat shortens the flowering.
Know it to care for it
A Christmas plant isn’t an ornament: it’s a plant with preferences. Tell Verdejar where it lives and how much light it gets, and the app works out the watering rhythm and nudges you at the right moment. Try it with cyclamen:
Sources: Royal Horticultural Society · Iowa State University Extension · University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension · Clemson Home & Garden Information Center · New York Botanical Garden. The days between waterings come from the Verdejar watering engine.