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Post by Fi on Nov 25, 2014 20:32:28 GMT -1
So.....I emailed my brother to ask what the kids want for Christmas and it turns out my 6-year old niece would like a flowering plant for her bedroom.
Does anyone have any ideas what I could get her? My first plants as a kid were spider plants, pretty hard to kill off, but small and boring flowers. I'd love to find something that has pretty-girly flowers, is in flower for Christmas and will keep its flowers for quite a while. Her bedroom is small and gets very warm in the summer, so it'd have to cope with that (if it survives that long, but I hope it does)
Someone at work suggested a peace lily, quite nice, and the only house plant I've not managed to kill, but not very girly.
Any suggestions very gratefully received!
Fi
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Post by cadeby on Nov 26, 2014 5:50:31 GMT -1
A Christmas Cactus? Girly pink flowers and thrives on neglect  |
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Post by harveydales on Nov 26, 2014 6:18:02 GMT -1
I second Helen's suggestion - Christmas cactus. Kalanchoe plants come in all sorts of colours and are equally easy but I think they are poisonous to cats and dogs. My first plants as a young child were cacti - I was fascinated by the strange shapes.
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Post by mikea on Nov 26, 2014 11:29:55 GMT -1
What about a Hippeastrum bulb (Amarylis) - you can get some that will flower in time for Christmas. They can grow quite large and the flowering stems are up to 2-3ft, with a large long lasting exotic looking flower. Theyre not very spectacular once the flower has gone, but with care will flower each year at the same time - around Christmas.
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Post by Fi on Nov 26, 2014 12:05:00 GMT -1
good ideas! I shall have a look at those ones.
Thanks for your replies
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Post by Debbie on Nov 27, 2014 2:22:01 GMT -1
^peace lily I would personally pass on the Peace Lily. They're poisonous for cats and personally I'd avoid anything poisonous for a budding botanist. Nothing would be sadder than killing the family pet  As for friendly plants, one of my own firsts was a snake plant, also called mother in laws tongues and dumb cane. I was so glad this plant was a masochist. In fact, I thought all other plants should measure up to it's durability when I got older. You wouldn't believe the amount of spider plants I killed as a child. Cacti are fascinating, very low maintainence, and can flower. Personally I give them a thumbs up for a starting plant enthusiasts. We used to sell hoyas. They bloomed most from our cacti selection, came in a variety of colours and were easy to care for. If in doubt, give her a snake plant or something very difficult to kill at first and let her come into her own as a gardener. I came to plants very late in life after being convinced for years that I had a brown thumb. I only discovered after owning a plant shop that many of the plants I'd killed were actually 'clones' and not fully rooted individuals. If I'd only known, I could have saved so much angst on my part and lives of a lot of plants. I almost forgot one of my ultimate favorites and current plant: my ponytail palm It's extremely durable. It doesn't flower but sends out curly cue leaves in masses around the bulb. Since it has a bulb base, it stores it's own water supply when I forget to water it (which is often). It seems to endure a lot of weather variations too which is a big plus. |
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Post by yanny on Nov 28, 2014 18:12:23 GMT -1
I second the cactus suggestions. I had cactuses when I was little and I loved them.
my other favourite was the Venus flytrap because it's closing mouths fascinated me; although they're not exactly a girly plant!
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Post by maggie on Nov 28, 2014 19:55:00 GMT -1
I've seen some kalanchoe plants in an attractive birdcage in Morrisons, they had a variety of colours and look like a good gift, quite inexpensive too.
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Post by tinkerdorisalison on Nov 28, 2014 21:13:29 GMT -1
A Christmas Cactus? Girly pink flowers and thrives on neglect I wonder it this is whats on my parents front room windowsill. I'm sure its not been watered for ages, but its just sprouted pink flowers at the ends of the leaves What about Geraniums? |
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Post by Fi on Nov 29, 2014 6:18:33 GMT -1
that sounds like a Christmas Cactus.
I'm not sure if geraniums are available now as plants? I love geraniums, and love the smell of the leaves, a pack of seeds to plant in spring would be a great little stocking filler.......:-)
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Post by valerie n scout on Dec 1, 2014 8:48:32 GMT -1
You can get lemon scented ones too.. Geraniums I mean x
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