VOA健康报道2022--Five Common ‘Holiday’ Plants and How to Care for Them

Five Common ‘Holiday’ Plants and How to Care for Them

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

During the winter holiday season, several plants are often the stars of the show. So, depending on where you live in the world, you might see them at this time of year.

Poinsettias

The most common holiday plant is probably poinsettia. The plant is native to countries in Central and South America. Even if they do not grow in your area, you may see them in holiday movies and television shows from the United States.

With their bright red leaves, they add color to any holiday decorations. Many people buy them for the holidays, but then throw them away afterward¹. But you can actually keep them around a little longer.

When you first bring them home, try to protect the plants from cold air. If you live in a cold climate, consider warming the car before transporting them. Once home, you should keep them away from cold doorways² or windows. Place them where daytime temperatures are between 18-23 degrees Celsius³.

Water the whole container whenever the surface turns dry. But the plant itself should never sit in water. Make sure water can escape from the bottom.

Paperwhites

The paperwhite plant is in the daffodil family. The bulbs of paperwhites are usually kept at low temperatures. So, they can be planted in cold weather and produce flowers in a month to six weeks. The flowers have an extremely sweet smell. And some people may not like that.

While you can grow these bulbs by setting them in a small amount of water, it is best to plant them in a shallow container of soil. They do not need much water and like lots of light.

Christmas trees

Small pine trees are often used as Christmas trees. Most people use cut trees and turn them into wood chips after the holidays.

Some Americans like to get a live tree so they can plant it after the holidays. If you want to do that, make sure you water the tree regularly and are careful with lights and ornaments⁵.

Amaryllis

An amaryllis plant is the easiest to grow and the showiest to see. They produce the largest flowers you are ever likely to grow.

They are usually sold together with containers and soil. All you need to do is plant it with one-third of the top of the bulb above the soil line.

Keep the plant growing through summer. Then put yours into a cool, dark place so it goes dormant⁶. Then bring it out again to flower for the next holiday season.

Christmas cactus⁷

A Christmas cactus is another great plant that flowers during the mid-winter holidays. If you do not celebrate Christmas, you can call it by its scientific name -- Schlumbergera.

Cactuses will flower each year if exposed to shortening⁸ days. They live for many years. Some families pass them on from one generation to the next. It is also common for families to split⁹ its root and share the plant.

Christmas cactuses do best in bright light. When it is flowering, the cactus should only be watered when the soil is dry. Too much water and the flowers will drop off. So, this is one of those times when too dry is better than too wet.

For the rest of the year, only add water when the surface soil dries out. Next autumn, give it natural light and keep it cool – for example, up against a window. It will flower again.

Whether you celebrate the holidays or not, these plants can be a colorful addition to your home during the cold weather season.

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report.

Words in This Story

decorate to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming : decoration – n.

bulb – n. an underground resting stage of a plant (as an onion or tulip) consisting of a short stem¹⁰ base bearing¹¹ one or more buds¹² enclosed in overlapping¹³ leaves

shallow – adj. having little depth

ornament⁴ – n. something that adds beauty

dormant – adj. of, relating to, or used during a period of no or greatly reduced activity or growth

exposed – adj. not shielded or protected

1 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

2 doorways   

n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The houses belched people; the doorways spewed out children. 从各家茅屋里涌出一堆一堆的人群，从门口蹦出一群一群小孩。 来自辞典例句
• He rambled under the walls and doorways. 他就顺着墙根和门楼遛跶。 来自辞典例句

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

5 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

7 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。

8 shortening   

n.缩针，简写；酥油/雪白奶油v.弄短，缩短( shorten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Instead, sarcomere shortening occurs when the thin filaments'slide" by the thick filaments. 此外，肌节的缩短发生于细肌丝沿粗肌丝“滑行”之际。 来自辞典例句
• Use peanut or safflower oil or solid vegetable shortening for frying. 用花生或红花油，或者食用油来起酥。 来自互联网

9 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

10 stem   

n.茎，干，船首，词干，血统；vt.堵住，阻止，抽去梗；vi.起源于，发生

参考例句：

• Cut the stem cleanly,just beneath a leaf joint.把茎切整齐点，正好切在叶根下。
• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。

11 bearing   

n.关系，影响，举止，姿态，方位，方向

参考例句：

• What you said had not much bearing on the problem.你说的话跟这个问题没有多大关系。
• He preserved his grave and dignified bearing.他保持庄重威严的仪态。

12 buds   

芽( bud的名词复数 )； 苞； 半开的花； 未长大的叶

参考例句：

• the first buds appearing in spring 春天的初芽
• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring. 柳枝绽青报春来。

13 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。