CHRISTMAS Poinsettias aren't the only potted holiday plant

Options abound for those who want to try some thing different.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
PHILADELPHIA -- The country's turning red, and politics have nothing to do with it.
Shops are awash in America's favorite seasonal plant, red poinsettias.
Too traditional, you say? Alternatives abound, from amaryllis and cyclamen to Christmas cactus and ornamental peppers.
Among the newer options are azalea topiaries with braided trunks with flowers in pink, white or red.
"They are pretty different," says Bruce Robertson of Robertson's Flowers, whose shops are selling the topiaries this season. They come from Oregon and stand about 18 inches tall in the pot, he says, and the flowers last for a couple of weeks.
Azaleas may not scream Christmas, but in a red container they add a festive touch to a buffet or side table. And they're not done when the holidays are over -- you can keep them over the winter and plant them in the garden next spring.
"Everyone is trying to come up with different things," Robertson says. Amaryllis, cyclamen and orchids are becoming increasingly popular.
And let's not overlook the ever-popular Christmas cactus, which tends to be a year-round houseplant for lovers of succulents.
Amaryllis, whose big bulbs yield those spectacularly large lilylike flowers, seemed to be everywhere this month. Grow-it-yourself kits were piled high at places such as Lowe's, and fat buds adorned already-growing plants at garden centers and florists.
These flowers, like poinsettias, now come in a variety of forms and colors, but red is still the favored choice for the holidays.
Amaryllis beauty
"The most recognized bulb as a Christmas flower in the United States is the amaryllis," says Sally Ferguson of the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center in New York. Because the flowers are so dramatic, it's easy to combine a few pots of amaryllis with a bit of greenery to make an impressive holiday display on a sideboard or windowsill.
But for something completely different, Ferguson suggests, try them as cut flowers.
"I grow my amaryllis in a [sunny] basement window well to use as cut flowers," she says. "They grow in a row and reach up towards the light, and then I just cut them." They will last 10 days to two weeks in the vase, she adds.
Try them in long skinny vases, so just their fluted heads peer over the rim, or cut them shorter and pop them into small rose bowls.
"They look great on a coffee table," says Ferguson, who likes to cut the stems down to about four inches so she can display them in the old-fashioned glazed or crockery bud vases you can find at flea markets.
But whether you cut the stems short or leave them long, "cut off a little more every few days to keep the water-uptake channels open," which keeps flowers fresh longer.
Once the first flowers have faded, don't give up on your potted amaryllis. There's usually a second stalk of flowers on the way, Ferguson says, and possibly a third.
Hyacinths and tulips are other bulbs making their mark as holiday plants -- and, of course, paperwhites, which even the brownest thumb can grow indoors.
Although there are a few varieties that will flower in time for Christmas as potted plants, tulips are more likely to show up as cut flowers for the holidays. They are great in arrangements: Not only do they continue to grow as much as an inch in the vase, they "dance," too, as they follow the light, which makes for an ever-changing display.
In Europe, the bulb most identified with the holidays, Ferguson says, is the sweet-smelling hyacinth. You can find them here, too, though not as readily as amaryllis.
"Potted hyacinths start showing up around the middle of December, sometimes as early as the 10th," she says, suggesting buyers look for plants with the potential blossoms "still snugged down between the leaves."
"You want to buy any potted bulb young, because then you get the full experience -- the different stages have different delights to them. People tend to buy potted bulbs when they are already in full bloom, which is like going to a Broadway show and just seeing the last act."
If you have the right conditions indoors, cyclamen will flower not just for the holidays, but for most of the winter. And since the flowers of these handsome plants come in red (as well as white, pink and lavender), they can be an integral part of Christmas decorating.
Hot and cold
If you keep your thermostat set at tropical temperatures, though, forget it. Cyclamen like to play it cool, which means daytime temperatures around 70 degrees and nights about 60 or a little lower.
Christmas cactus also like mild days and cooler nights. But, warns Jack Ruttle on the National Gardening Association's Web site, those conditions don't guarantee the plant you brought home in bloom for Christmas last year will flower in the same period this year.
Professional growers often manipulate conditions so plants will flower at a particular time, such as around Christmas. To add to the confusion, one species of these, Schlumbergera, or rain-forest succulents, blooms around Thanksgiving, another around Christmas.
Most of the holiday plants available now are hybrids of the two, according to Ruttle. So what do you do? Either wait a year to see when your plant will bloom, or buy a new one in flower for this Christmas.
The Jerusalem cherry, or false pepper, used to be a favorite for Christmas decorating because of its white flowers and red cherrylike fruits. But these aren't a good bet for any household that includes children or pets. The berries look tempting, but they're poisonous.
Which makes this a good place to point out that you should consider all holiday plants potentially dangerous and keep them out of child's reach.
If you're a true pepper person, you might want to consider the real thing. Ornamental peppers are making inroads as holiday plants because of their brilliant colors.