Poinsettias Are Popular in December Flower Arrangements

Poinsettias Are Popular for Decorating Outside 

I remember when I was growing up, we had a poinsettia plant near our back door. For some reason, my mom didn't care for it. Maybe it was because of the sticky white sap that dripped when she cut the "flowers" off to bring them in for December flower arrangements. Some people believe the sap is poisonous, but at worst it can cause skin irritation. She used to tell me it was poisonous.

Here on the California Central Coast, we can put poinsettias and sunflowers together outside at the same time, as long as there is no frost. I shot this scene in December one year as I was walking my neighborhood.

Poinsettias on Bench in Neighbor's Garden in December, © B. Radisavljevic 

People in frost free zones can plant the poinsettia for winter color in their gardens, as well as holly and pyracantha, which have red berries at this time of year. My area in Paso Robles is not frost free. We do have some nights below freezing. 

Many Motels and Hotels Use Poinsettias for Decorating During the Holidays

We often used to visit family and friends in Southern California for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We usually stayed at a motel in either Thousand Oaks or Orange County, or both. We saw this poinsettia plant on a table in a public area at the Best Western Motel in Thousand Oaks. 

Poinsettias on Table at Best Western Motel in Thousand Oaks, CA,  © B. Radisavljevic 

This photo clearly shows the parts of the plant. It has evergreen leaves. Red bracts surround the small yellow true flowers. It appears most businesses don't want to mess with the sticky sap anymore than my mother did. They use potted plants to do their decorating. 

Many people give potted poinsettias as gifts. Whether you receive one or buy one to decorate, you may wonder how to care for it. Poinsettias like sunshine, so if they are indoors, make sure they sit by a sunny window. Try to keep the temperature in the room from fluctuating too much. Although  these plants like moist soil, don't let water accumulate in the bottom of the pot's saucer or the plants may get root rot. Your plants will appreciate it if you remove the decorative foil as soon as the holiday season has passed. 

After the red bracts and flowers begin to fall, it's time to prepare your plant for storage if you want to keep it. Prune stems back to two buds and decrease the amount of water you give the plant. It won't be as thirsty as it was.Give it just enough water to keep it from drying out.  Store it in a cool place until late spring when all danger of frost is past. 

When the weather is warm enough again in late spring, you can safely set the plants outside in the sun. You may want to let them adjust by only leaving them out for a few hours a day and gradually increasing the time until they have acclimated to their new setting. Those who live in frost free areas may be able to safely plant their poinsettias in the garden against a south wall to keep them warm and to protect them from strong winds. For more detailed information on keeping these plants alive after the holiday season,  please read How to Care for Poinsettias, published by Better Homes and Gardens.

San Luis Bay Inn In Avila Beach Decorates with Poinsettias 

I took these photos when we were visiting a friend who was vacationing at the San Luis Bay Inn one December. This arrangement was in the lobby. Do you notice the white poinsettias in this display? 

Poinsettias on Display at San Luis Bay Inn in Avila Beach, © B. Radisavljevic 

I thought this arrangement was particularly striking.

Poinsettia Decoration at San Luis Bay Inn in Avila Beach, © B. Radisavljevic 

The San Luis Bay Inn was lovely during the Christmas season. I can see why my friend chose to stay there. If you plan to be  in San Luis Obispo County for the holidays, you might want to consider spending your vacation at the San Luis Bay Inn Resort in Avila Beach, just a short walk from the beach. It has everything you could want: kitchenettes in the large suites, wireless internet, large public areas for relaxing, swimming pool, jacuzzi, exercise room, and more.  It's a resort in every sense of the word. You can book through the banner below. Rooms fill up fast, so it's wise to plan far ahead. 

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G is For Gazania

Gazanias are simple but lovely flowers. Because they are so common here in California, it's easy to not notice the flowers much during the seasons when taller and more spectacular flowers are in bloom. In winter, though, they shine, and bring bright color to gloomy landscapes. That's why I've chosen it over other flowers to represent the letter "G" in this AtoZchallenge

As you see in the photo above, the bright color of the gazania attracts spiders and insects. In the photo below you see a visiting butterfly. 

There are two types of gazanias -- clumping and trailing. They will both cover the ground and they are about the same height. They both spread, but the trailing spread more quickly with their long running stems. Here's a photo where you can see some of my clumping gazanias growing under a goldenrain tree in my side yard. They are gradually spreading, but still have some space to fill. I'm hoping to get the weeds out and plant some root divisions soon. It's April, and the weeds have sprung up with the recent rains. 

Gazanias are used most often as groundcover and border plants. They are also used as fillers around new perennial shrubs until the shrubs grow enough to be attractions on their own. In the photo below, the gazanias are acting as groundcover in the space beside my driveway up to the boundary of my neighbor's yard. The kale you see on the edge spouted on its own, probably planted by the wind from the mother plant last year. 

In the photo above, you will notice that the flowers are not open. That's because today is cloudy. Gazanias only open in the sun. They close at night and when it is overcast. 

Below you see gazanias filling the space between the edge of the flower bed, surrounding the carnations, and extending almost to the rosemary in the center back. Without the gazanias, which I do need to divide now,  their space would be taken by the weeds like the ones now surrounding the irises. I hope I have time to get at those weeds soon. 

Gazanias don't need much care. They thrive in full sun and can tolerate poor soil. They don't need much water so we can consider them drought-resistant plants. What they can't handle is hard frost. One year almost all my gazanias died when we had an abnormally cold winter and the temperature got down to 12 F. This next photo shows what happened that year. The tops may die back, but most roots survive and revive the plants in warmer weather. 

If it doesn't get that cold in winter, the gazanias just bring a bit of sunshine to mostly dormant flower beds. 

Most of my gazanias have the  coloring of the ones below. Gazanias are available in many colors. I like the sunny ones. 

Sometimes gazanias spread in ways only nature understands. I have told my gardener to just mow around this one.  I just may take out the lawn and replace it with gazanias that don't need mowing or much water. I don't water the lawn anymore anyway now that brown lawns are fashionable during the drought. I will replace it with drought-resistant plants and bark chips as soon as I have the time and money. 

Are you growing gazanias yet? If not, why not pick up some seeds and get them in the ground so they can brighten your garden? Here are some of the available colors. 

 Outsidepride Gazania Red Shades - 100 seeds Outsidepride Gazania Garden Leader Striped Mix - 100 seeds Outsidepride Gazania Kiss Orange - 100 seeds

If you enjoyed this post, please share it. The sharing buttons are just above the comment box at the end of this post. The photo below is especially designed for pinning. 

This is my seventh post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is plants, since this is a gardening blog.  Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Apple Blossoms
B is for Bottlebrush
C is for Carnations
D is for Daisy

E is for Elderberry
F is for Flowers

Related articles

• What Blooms in November?

C is for Carnations

Pink Carnation, © B. Radisavljevic

Carnations are among my favorite flowers. I love their scent, and Mom always had them in her garden, so I grew up with them. I have written plenty about calendula on other sites, and  I couldn't find my catmint photos until after I had already decided that for the purposes of this AtoZchallenge, C is for carnations. 

Mom loved carnations. So when I inherited her home in 2005, I wanted to plant some here. She had a lovely rose garden in the back yard, but had never planted any flowers in front for the neighbors to enjoy. I wanted to see some color there, so I started propagating new plants from my home herb garden and moving them in. Carnations add color to the flowerbed in winter and early spring before it gets hot.

Swallowtail Butterfly on Pink Carnations,  © B. Radisavljevic

Carnations are easy to propagate. I believe the light pink carnations in these photos are the progeny of a root division I originally got from Mom almost fifty years ago. If you pull a section of the plant off near the ground, remove the bottom leaves, plant it in good soil, and keep it watered until established, it will probably grow up to produce flowers. There are more complicated ways to do it, but I didn't find out about them until I had already been successfully propagating carnations from cuttings for several years. This swallowtail butterfly didn't care that I hadn't propagated my carnations by the book.

In 2013 I decided I wanted to grow a darker carnation, so I bought one from a local nursery. It's pretty crowded by other plants now, and I'm hoping I have time to remedy that soon, but I have gotten a few of the dark pink variegated carnation flowers from this plant.

As you  can see, the calendula seedling (left) that sprang up in front of the darker carnation almost looks like it's where the carnation came from. Instead it's helping  the carnation to hold up its head.

As you can see, I sometimes can't find time to  tend my garden as I wish I could, so it sometimes does as it pleases. When I compare it to the monotonous green shrubs that used to dominate this flowerbed, though, I'm happy that when nature takes its course I have the color I do now.

How does your garden grow? Are you growing any  carnations?

If you enjoyed this post about carnations, why not pin it to your Pinterest board?

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What Blooms in December in Paso Robles?

Flowers Do Bloom in December

This month I've had a lot of time to roam my Riverbank tract neighborhood in Paso Robles to see what's blooming. It's good information to have when planning gardens. What you see to the left is a day lily I saw on my walk today, December 21. 

A Day Lily in December

A Timely Rain Gave the Flowers a Boost

Usually, winter is the time when there is very little color besides green in most gardens.  We have been fortunate to have more than average rainfall compared to last year during autumn, and we still have lots of clouds that seem to promise more rain. All that rain is turning our brown grass green again and giving our garden plants a much-needed drink. I photographed this sky yesterday, December 20. 

I hope we get a lot more rain this season because all the plants love it. 

What's Blooming in My Own Garden

Calendula Flower in December

I was expecting to see my calendula in bloom because calendulas add cheer to my garden when almost nothing else is blooming, and I wasn't disappointed. The rain has really helped them thrive. 

What surprised me was that a purple iris started to bloom. Maybe the rain woke it up. I had planted it a year ago but it didn't bloom in April like the other irises. It was a welcome sight. I wonder if it will bloom again on schedule in April or whether it just wanted to welcome me home from the hospital after my neck surgery this month. 

Iris in December

My holly is also in bloom. The berries from the holly help carry the birds such as bluebirds, woodpeckers, and mockingbirds through this time of year. 

Holly in December

What's Blooming in My Neighbor's Gardens?

When I don't limit myself to what I have in my own yard, there are many more options for color in December.  Both I and many of my neighbors grow roses and rosemary. Many rose varieties are still blooming. 

The yard below got rid of its lawn to conserve water and the attractive plants they have chosen to replace the lawn include both roses and rosemary. I think you will easily find the red roses in the center. Next to them on the right is a smaller white rose bush. The rosemary is on the slope to the left. 

My Neighbor's Xeriscaped Yard in December

I also grow rosemary. I started with a plant that was already there when I moved in, and then I easily rooted more in water within a couple of weeks. I used those to expand the drought-resistant shrubs in my own garden. Almost everyone in my neighborhood has rosemary. It not only has attractive tiny blue flowers, but it attracts bees and helps carry them through the winter. Read more about landscaping for the bees. 

The city of Paso Robles also uses a lot of rosemary in its landscaping. It's on the slopes in Larry Moore Park and in the parkway between Riverbank Lane and the Park. I show it below under a sweet gum tree that still has a few red leaves. 

Sweet Gum Leaves and Rosemary

After I headed back home I passed some other homes that had flowers that surprised me by being in bloom in December. The poinsettia didn't surprise me. I would expect to see it now. But those sunflowers next to it stopped me short. On the left of the poinsettia, I believe we see a smaller sunflower variety. I'm not sure what the small white flowers were because I couldn't get close enough for a good look. 

Poinsettias and Sunflowers in December

A couple of houses down were these blanket flowers brightening their yard. 

Blanket Flowers in December

Notice the mallow plant in the lower left corner. It's an edible weed you can substitute for spinach. Learn how to use mallow.

I came across another plant blooming I couldn't identify. To the left, you see a closeup of the flower itself. It's very small. But this section is just part of a large clumping plant. I show you the entire plant below. If anyone can identify it, please comment so we can correct this information. 

Mystery Plant in Bloom in December

Growing close to this plant is another I believe is a variety of lavender. Most of the lavender growing in our neighborhood has stopped blooming, but this variety is still going. 

Lavender in Bloom in December

When I got home from this walk, I got the camera out again to capture my watermelon sage. It, too, is still in bloom. See it below. Many of my neighbors also have a red sage in bloom. 

Wild Watermelon Sage in Bloom in December

Yesterday I took another walk and didn't get very far before I saw something else I didn't expect -- a blooming zonal geranium. These usually die when it gets cold, but it's not that cold yet this year. It certainly brightens up my neighbor's garden. It's in her new drought-resistant landscaping makeover. 

Zonal Geraniums in Bloom in December

One of the other plants I'm seeing all over the neighborhood is society garlic. It blooms through most of the year and is drought tolerant. If you crush or cut the leaves, they have a faint onion or garlic smell, which is why most people don't use society garlic in cut flower arrangements. The Sunset Garden Book says the chopped leaves can be used as seasoning. See it below.

Society Garlic in December

I'm sure I haven't covered everything that blooms in December in this area, but there's enough here to add to your garden to see that it will have some Christmas color before next December rolls around. Many of these plants add color for months. 


What's blooming in your December garden?

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What Blooms after the Frosts in December around Paso Robles?

Poinsettia in Mid December at Fat Cat Farm

Spring and summer are bursting with colorful flowers and blooming trees. In autumn, the deciduous trees dress in shades of yellow, rust, red, and  gold. It is a season of splendor and sadness, as it precedes the stark bleakness of winter.  After the first frosts in December, as I walked through my usual haunts in Paso Robles and looked at my own garden in Templeton, there was little color to be seen, so I went looking for it. I wanted to see just what does bloom here in the second half of December.

My first stop was Fat Cat Farm, about a mile east of me on Highway 46 West. I was sure if anything was blooming anywhere, I'd find it there in the herb garden. I found the last poinsettia (in top picture) on display, and remembered the one in my childhood home that was quite tall, growing in a bed beside our driveway.  I also found the plants below, most of which were in the pansy / violet family. Of the herbs, only the rosemary was blooming. Here are the pictures I got at Fat Cat Farm. I am very sad that Fat Cat Farms has had to close. I will miss it.

Rosemary after First Frosts

Pansies always add a happy face to the garden and provide winter color. 

Violas also add cheer -- especially these yellow ones. 

Pale Violets at Fat Cat Farm

After leaving Fat Cat Farm, I went home in search of color and was rewarded by my faithful calendula plants. They add brightness to my garden all year, but in winter they and the rosemary are the only things beside the white flowers of the coyote brush and the red berries of the cotoneaster that provide any color other than green.

Calendula adds color all year. 

I let the fallen leaves protect my gazanias in winter.

Coyote Brush in Bloom

Cotoneaster Berries 

On December 19, I was convinced there must be something else in bloom as winter was about to descend upon us, so I visited the garden at Veris Cellers on Bethel Road, not far off Highway 46 West. I was not disappointed. Although the frost had killed most flowers, some winter flowers were still blooming -- even if some on the same plant were brown. I don't know the names for all these. the leaves on some look familiar but I can't place them. If you know them, please let me know in the comments.

Mums with Sweet Alsyssum at Veris Cellars

White Roses at Veris Cellars

Pink and White Roses at Veris Cellars

Mystery Plant One at Veris Cellars

Mystery Plant Two at Veris Cellars -- Could it be a mum?

White Snap Dragon at Veris Cellars

After leaving Veris Cellars, I was convinced that I might find still some other source of color at the city park in Paso Robles. Here's what I found there. There were some wimpy red roses, but they were gradually changing into these lovely red rose hips. So, even though they don't count as flowers anymore, they do count as color. I also found these red trumpet shaped flowers, but I don't know what they are.  

Red Rose Hips at City Park in Paso Robles

Mystery Plant Three at City Park in Paso Robles

If you have some flowers blooming here in North San Luis Obispo County that I haven't mentioned here, please feel free to tell us in the comments what they are, since I'm hoping this can be a resource for people planning gardens with some color all year.