Accepting a holiday plant as a gift or by your own purchase is not the same as an adoption. Many of these plants can be grown on as houseplants and some can even be induced to re-flower, but this is a time consuming, tedious process that may take away much of the fun of owning the plant. Most seasonal blooming plants would be enjoyed more if we could bring ourselves to consider them as winter bouquets to discard when they are no longer attractive. If you consign them to the compost they can be the basis for other gardening adventures. I have grown thousands of poinsettias in commercial greenhouses very successfully, but have never managed to complete the rigorous regimen of re-flowering one in my own home. I don't have the intensity of light nor the uninterrupted schedule required. Enjoy them, but don't feel you must make a cause of them unless you really want to. On the other hand, Amaryllis and the Christmas cactus can be easily grown to flower again and again.
The worst thing that will happen to your holiday plant is taking it out of the greenhouse that grew it and moving it into the lowlight, dry heat of your home. This shock can be expressed as yellowing, drying and dropping of lower leaves and general deterioration of the plant. Beware of overwatering at this point. To overcome that shock, you need to provide, as nearly as you can, the conditions that each requires.
Holiday plants can be classified as easy to grow in your home or more difficult. The easy ones like or tolerate the light, heat and humidity levels usually found in your home. The more difficult ones require that one or more of these conditions be different enough from what is comfortable for you to make finding or creating a suitable place for them harder.
Everyone, it seems, has a poinsettia or two so here is the scoop on caring for them including this information on trying to rebloom them in case you are under the delusion that this activity might be fun. The wide array of colors and types that have been bred in the last few years begins to boggle the mind. One of the best things they have done is make them more tolerant of the indoor light and heat levels that we live with. They still need to be kept out of drafts and would prefer more humidity if you can provide it.
