FESTIVE

If your budget is tight this Christmas but you still want festive houseplants, you can use plants that you already have to get the yuletide look.

“Think about what houseplants in your collection you are going to be incorporating in your Christmas décor and where you are going to place them,” advises award-winning houseplant expert Jade Murray, author of The Indoor Garden (Pimpernel Press, £20).

“Avoid decorating all your houseplants, just choose what you feel would be the best ones.”

Which plants should you use?

“Any houseplant can be jazzed up during the Christmas season. Some of the best plants for Christmas displays are parlour palms (Chamaedorea elegans), ZZ plants (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) and monsteras as they have stems which decorations can easily be attached to,” says Murray.

“Cacti are also a lovely choice of plant as they come in an array of different varieties and sizes, making them ideal for a Christmas table centre piece display. I also love incorporating bromeliads into indoor Christmas displays as they have striking brightly coloured flowers, which will surely add to the Christmas cheer. I like complementing them with classic nutcracker soldiers, a nostalgic symbol of Christmas.”

Have a look at your houseplants to see which have typical festive coloured foliage or flowers such as red and white, suggests garden podcaster and author Ellen Mary (ellenmarygardening.co.uk), who has just launched a plants and nature for wellbeing consultancy People Plants Wellbeing (peopleplantswellbeing.com).

Often, simply grouping these and adding a bow or some ribbon can make a surprisingly easy Christmas houseplant corner, she says.

Standing a spathiphyllum (peace lily) and anthurium (flamingo flower) together look immediately festive just from the red, white and green colour mix but if you also wrap the pots with brown paper and a ribbon or some Christmas wrapping paper, you’ve created an easy festive houseplant display, Ellen Mary suggests.

“When decorating a Christmas table, I use a variety of cacti, which are heat-tolerant and can survive quite well in our heated home environments during the winter festive season. Miniature cacti are inexpensive so you can achieve a dazzling Christmas table centre piece on a budget,” says Murray.