Best After-Holiday Return

A local greenhouse has an annual return-your-poinsetta-and-get-twenty-percent-off-a-house-plant sale. I try to take advantage of the deal, because by late January I am ready to be done with Christmas decorations.

  This year, I replaced the poinsettia with a white cyclamen surrounded by white-tipped ivy.

Besides the new centerpiece, I also got some new plants for around the house to replace ones that had shriveled from lack of care. These are white speckled plants called a Domino Peace Lily.

 They don't require light, but they do need a drink regularly.

I have a personal aversion--no matter how realistic looking--to fake plants--be they plastic or even silk. If it isn't real, I would rather not have it. The only exception to this is glass or pottery blossoms, but even they too aren't as good as the real thing.

However, I don't have a particularly green thumb so I have to be careful which plants I choose. They can't be finicky or require careful monitoring. So, here are my tried and true favorites: jade plants which don't require much water,

succulents, and mini-palm trees thrive when they are ignored.

And perhaps, the most foolproof "plants"--curly willow twigs. They don't require light or water, but then they don't bloom either.

Every once in awhile I succumb and purchase plants that require care. Why? I guess, because "hope springs eternal in the human breast."

Two plants I have been coddling are these fiddle-leaf figs. They like lots of light and weekly watering. After I got them, they each lost a main branch of leaves and only recently have each sprouted another branch. The verdict is still out as to whether these will survive my black thumb.

I encourage everyone to splurge on blossoms this winter. Even if they won't last more than a few weeks, their fresh beauty will brighten your days.