The best Christmas houseplants to give as presents Citrus bushes make tremendous Christmas presents. They are often sold with both flower and developing fruit, and are deliciously scented. You often see the lemon varieties 'Meyer' (right) and 'Four Seasons', but calamondin oranges are also ideal. Make sure your plant is kept in a light, frost-free place over the winter (minimum night temperature 5C), then put the pot outside for the summer. Cyclamen persicum is a highly decorative plant, with flowers in colours ranging from white to pink to red. Getting it to flower again is difficult, but it can be done. Keep it in full light in winter, at a steady 13C-16C. Give it a liquid feed fortnightly while it is in flower. Water less as the stems start to bend and collapse, then keep it completely dry for three months when it is dormant. Gently introduce water again as the new leaves appear. Schlumbergera x buckleyi, the Christmas cactus, has flowers with distinctive reflexed petals and protruding stamens at the end of succulent, flattened leaves. Retain reasonably high humidity by misting it with a fine spray of clean water, and feed it monthly with a high-potash feed. After flowering, put the plant in a light place and keep the compost just moist. Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' is a hardy plant, not a houseplant, so it shouldn't really be here, but it is a winter wonder and every gardener should have it. It flowers from November, while the leaves are still on, through the winter. Whenever you need a few pink, scented flowers for a small vase, it will oblige. It is stone hardy, very amenable, and can be planted out of a pot at any time, as long as the ground isn't actually frozen. Hyacinthus orientalis 'Ostara' is a hyacinth with deep-blue flowers, powerfully scented and attractive as a present when planted, say, with two others in a bowl or basket. Christmas hyacinths are forced into flower earlier than is natural outside; the secret of success is to put them somewhere cool, preferably no more than 13C, so that they do not flop over. The bulbs can be planted in the garden afterwards, but cannot be forced again.