Miniatures for the holidays - flowers and plants

Sunset, Dec, 1991

TINY FORMS OF favored garden plants--including azaleas, roses, chrysanthemums, kalanchoes, and poinsettias--add bright accents to holiday decorations.

Most are sold with self-watering wick systems at nurseries or florists. You'll also find miniature poinsettias in cell-packs, sometimes called arrangement packs.

DECORATING WITH

MINIATURES

To make the poinsettia tabletop wreath (far right), set a mound of moistened and compacted sphagnun moss on a plastic tray; tuck wick-watered plants and poinsettia cells (cut apart with scissors first) into the moss. The moss hides reservoirs and containers. Candles sit on the table next to the tray of plants, encircled by loose greenery.

For the hanging door ornament shown at right, use a tree-shaped ivy topiary with a sphagnum moss base. Remove poinsettias from containers and wedge into holes made in the topiary's base. Take down the ornament and lay it horizontally for watering.

HOW TO FIND AND CARE

FOR MINIATURES

If you have trouble finding miniature plants, ask a florist or nursery to order them.

Self-watering plants in 3/4-to 1 1/2-inch post costs about $6; cell-packs are $6 to $12. Properly maintained, they'll bloom for two to four months.

Give plants bright light. Partially fill reservoir with water and a diluted solution of house plant fertilizer; keep water level below pot bottom.

Most of these plants will eventually outgrow their diminutive size (the roses, for example, grow to 12 to 16 inches tall). When bloom is over, repot them in larger pots, and in mild climates experiment with them outdoors. Chrysanthemums and kalanchoes can be transplanted directly in the garden.