What’s in Bloom

The poinsettia was introduced to this country from Mexico in 1825 by Joel Poinsett. The botanical name for the poinsettia is Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning the most beautiful Euphorbia. The showy colored parts of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are colored bracts (modified leaves). Poinsettias are cold sensitive, so they cannot be used in cold drafty areas. Poinsettias are not poisonous, although they can cause an upset stomach if eaten. We use a variety of Euphorbia species and cultivars in the Christmas display and throughout the year, and in the permanent plantings collection.

Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) is a deciduous holly native to eastern North America, thriving in wetlands and moist woodland edges. Unlike most hollies, it drops its leaves in winter, leaving behind bright red berries that stand out against bare branches. The berries persist into winter, providing an important cold-season food source for birds like cedar waxwings and robins. Beyond its wildlife value, the berry-laden branches make a striking addition to Christmas displays, adding natural color and festive charm when most plants have gone dormant.

A living composition of textured plants features urn-plants (Aechmea fasciata ‘Primera’) accentuated with a silver ball garland, sparkly blue ribbon and ornaments, with twinkling blue fairy lights.  Identified by their silvery-green leaves and bold pink flower spikes, urn-plants are bromeliads that thrive in bright, indirect light and collect water in their central “cups”.  As epiphytes, they can naturally grow on trees in their native tropical habitats, drawing nutrients and moisture from the air rather than from the soil.      

Euphorbia fulgens is a graceful, arching spurge native to the cloud-forest regions of southern Mexico, where it grows as a semi-woody shrub. Known for its long, wiry stems lined with coral, red, orange, yellow, or white, bracts, it’s a florist favorite, especially in Europe because its stems last an impressively long time in arrangements. Like all spurges, it produces a milky latex sap, which is both its natural defense and the reason florists sear the stem ends to improve vase life. With its delicate silhouette, vivid color, and surprisingly dramatic lineage (the Euphorbia family also includes poinsettias and cactus-like succulents), Euphorbia fulgens remains an excellent choice for borders, containers, or areas where a splash of color and texture is desired!

Each orb or basket is created on a 16-inch diameter custom metal form built by Longwood’s craftsmen. Gardeners layer wet sphagnum moss and Phalaenopsis orchids in rows starting from the bottom. Each orb has 75 plants. The orchid plants in the bottom layers are placed upside down. The orb center is filled with Styrofoam peanuts to reduce weight. The final orb is quite large, almost four feet in diameter, in keeping with the scale of the Conservatory.

Floral Trees are cut green trees with added customized hardware constructed to support flowering plants like poinsettias or begonias which are carefully placed among the branches. The irrigation for the flowering plants is integrated in the structure. Longwood staff have designed and developed this form. 

Amaryllis is widely recognized as a classic holiday flowering plant, especially in winter and around Christmas. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family and is native to South Africa, where its natural growth cycle has made it well suited to winter blooming in cultivation. Grown from a large bulb, amaryllis is valued for its tall, upright stems and large, trumpet-shaped flowers, which provide vibrant color indoors when few other plants are in bloom. Botanically, most holiday “amaryllis” sold commercially are actually Hippeastrum, a closely related genus from South America, but the name amaryllis remains firmly associated with winter holidays and indoor flowering traditions.  After flowering, allow the leaves to grow, and continue watering and feeding the plant so the bulb can store energy, then let it rest for about 8–10 weeks in a cool, dry place before being replanted to trigger the next bloom.  Bulbs can last for years when stored correctly.

A brilliant array of blue and green succulents including Echeveria, Gasteria, Haworthia and Senecio cover a diamond-shaped frame. Plant material is set into sphagnum moss and wired into place on a metal frame. 

Japanese camellias have glossy evergreen leaves and rose-like flowers in various shades of pink, red, and white that bloom at Longwood throughout the winter.  These beautiful flowering shrubs were one of Pierre S. du Pont’s favorite flowers and one of the first species planted in the Conservatory upon its completion in 1921.

Osteomeles subrotunda, also known as False Hawthorn, is an evergreen shrub, native to East and Southeast Asia, including parts of China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, where it often grows on rocky slopes and coastal areas. It has fern-like small, glossy, rounded leaves (which inspired the name subrotunda, meaning “almost round”), delicate white flowers, and tiny berry-like fruits that birds enjoy. One of its standout qualities is its resilience, tolerating wind, salt, pruning, and poor soils, making it popular in bonsai, hedges, and coastal gardens. A member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae), it looks like a hawthorn, but it’s actually a different genus.  You can find a variety of our Bonsai trees on display in the West Conservatory. 

Euphorbia leucocephala is another popular plant in Longwood's Christmas display. We often feature it in large masses where its tiny white bracts and flowers create a snow-dusted landscape feel to the warm conservatory. After we root it in April and pot it in June this crop appreciates summer heat and is grown outdoors until October, when we bring it into the warm greenhouses and groom it for the holiday display. 

This large and wide 22-foot white fir (Abies concolor) twinkles with warm white lighting and jewel toned crystal ornaments in deep blue, cobalt, plum and gold.  The tree is enveloped by illuminated four-foot prismatic “crystals” made of sphagnum moss and Echevaria succulents, that emerge from the surrounding garden beds.