Christmas: Flowers and Plants for the Table and as Gifts

An Argentine Christmas has an aesthetic problem and a practical one: all the imagery comes from the northern winter — pine, mistletoe, holly — and we celebrate it at 33 degrees (about 91°F) with the table out on the patio.

For the table

• A low centerpiece, always. On a long table full of serving dishes, a tall arrangement blocks the view and gets in the way all night.
• Red, white and green if you want the classic palette: red roses, white lilies and foliage.
• Real summer if you prefer something honest: sunflowers, hydrangeas, gladiolus, agapanthus. It’s what’s in bloom, and it looks much better than a plastic pine.
• Candles and foliage as an affordable base: eucalyptus, ruscus or natural pine with candles take care of an entire table for very little.
• Heat-resistant flowers. If the table is outdoors, choose carnations, alstroemerias and chrysanthemums. See how to care for flowers in the heat.

The poinsettia (estrella federal)

It’s the Christmas plant par excellence, and here it has a quirk: in the Northern Hemisphere it blooms in December, which is winter there. In Argentina, it blooms naturally between May and July. The ones sold in December are forced in greenhouses by controlling their hours of light.

You can still have one, but know that it won’t last like it does in the photo: it needs plenty of indirect light, moderate watering, and it hates drafts. If you want one that does well, look for it in the fall.

Plants to give for Christmas

• Bonsai: the longest-lasting Christmas gift there is.
• Orchid: looks expensive, lasts for months and never fails.
• Succulents and cacti: perfect for multiple gifts, Secret Santa style.
• Potted herbs — basil, rosemary, mint — for someone who cooks. A very good gift and very inexpensive.
• Anthurium: Christmas red, and it blooms almost all year.

A logistics tip

The week of December 20 to 24 is one of the busiest of the year for deliveries, and it competes with all the year-end logistics. If you need something for the 24th (Christmas Eve, the main celebration in Argentina), order it ahead of time and choose the morning slot. Leaving it for the same day means gambling on the one date of the year when Buenos Aires traffic is worse than on Mother’s Day.