Hi. I’ve received this Christmas basket with plants from work. Can anyone help me identify the plants? I know the begonia is not hardy, but what about the rest?
I would treat them all as tender, even the ivy for now as it will have been grown under glass with the foliage plants. Keep frost free and away from cold windows at night. ( If on a windowsill, put them somewhere else when you draw your curtains. The foliage plants will benefit from being sprayed lightly with tepid water every other day, they like humidity. Avoid draughts and direct heat ( eg over radiators, near fires, direct sunlight). Have a safe Christmas and hopefully your arrangement will still be looking good right into the New Year .
A gardener's work is never at an end - (John Evelyn 1620-1706)
The green plant on the right behind the ivy is a Parlour Palm (Chamaedorea elegans) - not hardy in the UK but easy enough as a house plant. I'm not sure about the one on the left but it looks like a fern to me. Maybe a Pteris variety? They'll all prefer different conditions and will soon be crowded in the basket, so once Christmas is over they'll be much happier separated and planted into individual pots. You could save the basket and the decoration for future re-purposing.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thank you, @JennyJ. I’m going to repot in individual pots very soon. It was one of those gifts that a non-gardener gives to a gardener. The basket is nice so I’ll keep that for some future project. I’ll try to care for the plants as best as I can, though I haven’t been successful in keeping indoor begonia alive for too long before.
I'd suggest that when you separate the plants, you gradually harden off the variegated ivy. It would make good ground cover in a shady spot in the garden...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Posts
The foliage plants will benefit from being sprayed lightly with tepid water every other day, they like humidity. Avoid draughts and direct heat ( eg over radiators, near fires, direct sunlight).
Have a safe Christmas and hopefully your arrangement will still be looking good right into the New Year .