Poinsettias are terrific and cyclamen are beautiful seasonal plants, but if you want sizzling color not just for the holidays but in a plant you can enjoy for years, then get yourself a kalanchoe.
This succulent plant has colors so vivid and foliage so tough it can grow in almost desert-like conditions.
Most of us think of the kalanchoe as a Christmas houseplant or a warm-weather potted plant for the deck or patio. One company that has risen above the rest in kalanchoe breeding is Fides from the Netherlands. They are breeding kalanchoes with the goal of getting consumers to use them as annual garden border plants like the petunia. Their low water requirement just might make this a possibility in some areas of the country.
Fides now has more than 50 named varieties.
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