Sparkly lights are turning on, cafes are selling gingerbread lattes and the smell of mulled wine is in the air.
Christmas is just around the corner – yes, already! – and here at Blossoming Gifts, we’re feeling full of festive spirit
December is our favourite month of the year, as it’s when we get to sprinkle floral magic over our homes with Christmas plants and flowers, both traditional (think holly, red roses, pinecones and berries) and contemporary (gold-sprayed foliage and Scandi-style twig trees).
Let’s help get your creative juices flowing with a run-through of some of our seasonal favourites.
Amaryllis
With it’s triumphant, trumpet-shaped blooms, the amaryllis is a deserving Christmas classic. Its petals are either berry red or snowy white, which perfectly complements festive foliage like ivy, willow and eucalyptus.
Though native to hot and steamy Latin America, it can flower indoors during our chilly British winter for up to seven weeks and last for at least three when cut for a vase display. This makes it one of the longest-lasting Christmas plants – perfect for a busy, party-laden period when minimal maintenance is key.
Azalea
Part of the rhododendron family, the azalea is a popular Christmas plant with its blousy red or white flowerheads. It blooms for up to a month, meaning you can show it off as a centrepiece throughout the holidays.
To keep your shallow-rooted azalea happy, display it in a cooler area of your home, away from direct heat sources like fires or radiators. Keep its soil moist by watering it at least twice weekly – our tip is to submerge its pot in room temperature water and allow it to drain fully, before returning it to pride of place.
Once we enter the new year, plant it in your garden in a partly shady spot, and enjoy watching it grow.
Red Roses
This timeless symbol of romantic love isn’t only for Valentine’s Day. The red rose also steps into the spotlight at Christmas, as well as on Valentine’s Day, cropping up in many a festive bouquet due to how beautifully it zings against verdant foliage.
Roses are known for their transience, often only lasting for a week, so our advice is to buy them shortly before the big day, and display them alongside more robust blooms like lilies and alstroemeria.
Christmas Foliage
It’s easy to focus on the jolly pops of colour that Christmas flowers can inject into your home, but it’s the foliage that makes your mantelpiece garlands, centrepieces and vase displays look so majestic and abundant.
Spiky holly, foraged pine cones and juicy berries give seasonal bouquets that whimsical, ‘just picked from the forest’ feel, allowing you to bring the outside winter wonderland indoors (hopefully minus any snow!).
For natural festive fragrance, look for sprigs of pine, spruce and fir, and for a modern metallic twist, spray some greenbell or hard ruscus gold or silver.
Lilies
Lilies are the eternal fashionistas of the flower world, so if you’re eager to add a touch of glamour to your Christmas decorations, look no further. Red, pink and orange lilies look regal when mixed with golden foliage, while white lilies symbolise purity in the language of flowers and exude classy refinement. Black calla lilies are the most dramatic, but perhaps better suited to Halloween than Christmas!
Eryngium
Prickly white or blue eryngiums, also known as sea holly, might not scream good tidings, but they bring a striking wild edge to floral decorations, adding depth and texture.
For an elegant yuletide display, pepper them into a bunch of delicate white roses or oriental lilies, along with lashings of velvety eucalyptus. Sculptural eryngiums can also look fantastic painted gold, copper or champagne.
Hyacinth
If it’s glorious scent you’re after, the hyacinth’s heavenly fragrance quickly fills entire rooms. It’s towers of colourful flowers resemble bells and are often found in Christian churches, due to their connotations of peace, loyalty and love in the language of flowers.
Hyacinths come in a rainbow of colours, but we like the white and blue varieties best for Christmas, as they break up all those traditional reds and greens, adding textural interest without looking garish.
Carnations
Ruffled carnations bring a decorative touch of femininity to any bouquet that they grace. Like the rose, the pink and red varieties symbolise enduring love, with white petals representing good fortune – two excellent wishes for the new year.
Mini Christmas Tree
If you haven’t got the space for a 9ft Nordmann fir (or simply want not one Christmas tree but two, three, four…), then we have the ideal solution to your decorating woes.
Our practical and charming mini Christmas trees come in two heights – 45cm or 65cm – and will sit pretty on desks, coffee tables and more. They arrive undecorated, with fairy lights and your choice of shimmering baubles in the box, ready for some family fun. Our pick is the silver, for that lost in Narnia look, but we also love the moody burgundy. If your style is more pared back, consider our metallic twig trees, made from slender birch branches.
Poinsettia
Some eight million poinsettias are sold up and down the UK every Christmas, making this tropical plant a festive must-have. What makes the poinsettia special is that its bright red ‘petals’ are actually the upper leaves, known as ‘bracts’. There are flowers, too, but they’re green, tiny and hidden in the centre of the leaves.
In Mexico, where the poinsettia originates, it is the subject of a legend. The story goes that a poor girl wanted to attend a Christmas service and take the baby Jesus a gift, but she had no money. When she placed a humble posy of roadside weeds at the nativity scene, it burst into a stunning poinsettia. Heartwarming stuff, eh?
You’ll find everything from red roses and white amaryllis to passionate pink lilies and glittering mini Christmas trees in our new festive range. Shop today for a December to remember.
