When it comes to holiday flowers, if you’re looking for flowers that are going to last throughout the season, skip the cut flowers and go for flowering plants. The most popular winter flowering plants are those that are virtually synonymous with the season.

Poinsettia, a member of the Euphorbia family is characterized by brightly colored bracts. You can find plants with cream-colored, salmon-colored, red or multi-colored bracts. The bracts are the large flower-like petals.

Another popular choice, especially among people who don’t want to bother with high-maintenance plants is the Christmas cactus. This succulent, a member of the Schlumbergera family, is sometimes confused with other holiday cacti that look like the Christmas cactus.

Both Poinsettia and Christmas cacti are easy enough to care for that you can keep them throughout the year and enjoy bigger, more lush displays in subsequent years.

The most important things to remember in caring for Poinsettia or Christmas cactus plants are :

• Remove the foil or paper wrapper from the plants as soon as you get them. The purpose of packing them like this is to hold their leaves or bracts up so they don’t take up as much space in displays.

This keeps the plants from getting proper air circulation, and releases ethylene gas – the same gas that makes produce spoil faster. Wrapping also lets the plants rest in standing water, something that may lead to root rot.

• Both types of plants need at least six hours of bright, but indirect light. Too much direct sun will burn bracts on Poinsettias.

• Keep plants away from drafty windows, heat vents or anything that exposes either plant to excessively cold temperatures or rapid temperature changes.

• Be prepared to keep house temperatures on the cool side, both at night and during the day.

• Ideal indoor daytime temperatures for Poinsettias should be below 70 degrees F, and the nighttime ideal is above 62 degrees F.

• Christmas cacti like even cooler temperatures – between 60 and 70 degrees F during the day, and 55 to 65 degrees F overnight.

• Keep both types of plants evenly moist while they’re blooming, but never soak soil. After watering, pour off any excess from the saucer or dish your plant sits in.

• To prevent plants from sitting in water, you can always place the pot in a shallow dish with a layer of pebbles or marbles on the bottom. This will lift the pot enough to prevent it from ever spending too long in standing water.

• Don’t fertilize Poinsettia plants that are in their prime. If you keep your plant, once the bract color fades, cut the plant so that 8 inches of stem remains.

Continue to care for it as you did before, but once nighttime temperatures are consistent at 55 degrees F or above, you can place it in bright, but protected place outside. When new growth emerges in May, begin fertilizing it with a liquid all-purpose houseplant fertilizer ever two to four weeks.

• Fertilize Christmas cactus every two to three weeks while it is blooming. Use the same type of all-purpose liquid fertilizer, but dilute it to ¼ the recommended strength. Once blooming ends, cut back on watering frequency, and take place them in a shady place.

Always remove any unattractive or unhealthy looking growth from plants to maintain their attractive appearance. Allow soil to get dry to the touch before watering plants. Frequency will vary, depending on the temperature and humidity levels in your home.

If you do replant your plants, transplant them into a pot whose diameter is no more than 1 or 2 inches larger than the original pot. Add plenty of organic matter to the potting mix you use. This will improve drainage and make sure that air circulates throughout the soil.