The Christmas rose or Christmas rose used to be cultivated as a houseplant so that it developed its flowers at Christmas. Basically, the Christmas rose is a hardy outdoor perennial that should spend the rest of its life in the garden or in a pot on the terrace.
Can the Christmas rose be cultivated as a houseplant?
The Christmas rose is suitable as a houseplant if it is placed in a cool, bright location such as a hallway window or entrance area without direct sun. Avoid waterlogging, keep it in a tall pot and slowly get used to it outside after flowering.
The right location in the house
The Christmas rose, which is also called the snow rose because of its winter hardiness, blooms longer the cooler it is in the house. The living room is not suitable for caring for the Christmas rose.
The location must be bright, but the snow rose cannot tolerate direct sun. A place where it doesn't get warmer than 10 to 15 degrees is ideal:
- Bright hallway windows
- Cool Bedroom Window
- Entrance area of the house
- Cool conservatory
Care for Christmas rose as a houseplant
Christmas roses only develop well indoors if they are kept in a pot as tall as possible. There must be enough space for the long roots.
Waterlogging must be avoided at all costs. Make sure there is a large drainage hole (€23.00 on Amazon) and water carefully so that the Christmas rose does not dry out.
After flowering, cut off spent flowers and prepare the Christmas rose for moving outside.
Slowly get used to winter temperatures
The snow rose does not like sharp jumps in temperature. Before you put it outside in the pot or plant it directly outdoors, slowly get the Christmas rose used to cooler temperatures.
To do this, first put the pot outside for an hour and bring it back into the house at night. At night the temperatures usually drop too much.
The snow rose thrives best when the temperatures inside and outside are approximately the same. Such a day is best suited if you want to plant the Christmas rose directly outdoors.
Place out of the reach of children and animals
Christmas roses are highly poisonous. Place the snow rose so that children and pets do not come into contact with it. To be on the safe side, it is even better to avoid having Christmas roses in the house at all.
Tips & Tricks
There is a pretty legend surrounding the Christmas rose. A shepherd wanted to bring a gift to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but he found no flowers. So he cried bitter tears, which fell to the ground and turned into the pretty petals of the Christmas rose.
