Southampton - If you're known as a plant lover, it's a good bet somebody will give you a gift of a plant this holiday season. Holiday plants can continue to brighten your home well into the gloomy days of February if you know how to take care of them. Here are some tips:

Poinsettia
Poinsettias are everywhere now. Did you know that their bright red, pink, and white flowers aren't really flowers at all? They're modified leaves, called bracts. The real flowers are tiny and yellow, and you can see them down in the center of those colorful bracts. To get the most from your poinsettias, don't let them dry out. Water as often as necessary - even daily - to keep the soil in the pot evenly moist but not soggy. Poinsettias are tropical and can't take the cold, so do NOT put them outside. Household temperatures suit them just fine, but keep them on the cool side of your comfort range, and away from radiators or other heat sources, for the longest life. When the leaves begin to yellow and drop off, toss the plants.

Amaryllis grows best when potbound.

Amaryllis
Amaryllis grows from a big bulb that blooms best when it's potbound. The big, trumpet-shaped flowers are carried in clusters atop tall, straight stalks and come in brilliant, rich red, crisp white, apricot-pink, salmon and combinations of red and white and salmon and white. If you've got one to care for, keep the soil evenly moist, and mist the plant daily or, if you can, run a small humidifier in the room to boost humidity. Give the plant bright light from an east, west, or south-facing window. When the last flowers fade, remove the plant from the pot and toss it on your compost pile (you do have a compost pile, don't you?).

Or, if you like a challenge, keep the plant and see if you can get it to re-bloom next year. Here's how:

 • Cut off the big stalk as the flowers fade and cut back on watering to let the plant rest; keep the soil just slightly moist. In spring, when the weather turns warmer and outdoor temperatures get above 50 degrees, start to feed the plant every couple of weeks. Use a half-strength liquid plant food, such as a combination seaweed/fish organic fertilizer. Water more often to keep the soil evenly moist through the summer. Your goal now is to encourage good leaf growth.

Give cyclamen a cool place where it will get bright light but no direct sun.

 • In early fall, quit watering and let the leaves die back. Cut off the dead leaves and stash the bulb - still in its pot - in a dark, cool place (try the basement or a cool closet) for six to eight weeks.

 • Then bring the potted bulb to a warm, sunny window. Don't water until a new shoot pokes up through the soil. That should be a new flower stem. Water sparingly until the new shoot is several inches high, then begin regular watering.

Cyclamen
These lovely plants are personal favorites. They've got heart-shaped leaves mottled with pale silver, and graceful flowers in shades of magenta, pink, red and white, with back-swept petals. Give cyclamen a cool place (temperatures around 60 degrees, or even less, if possible) where it will get bright light but no direct sun. Keep the soil evenly moist but not wet, and feed plants every two weeks while the plant is in flower.

The Paperwhite Narcissus bears clusters of fragrant white flowers that look like tiny daffodils.

When blooming stops, put the plant in a cool, dark place and cut back on watering to give it a rest. Keep the soil barely moist, and pull off the leaves when they've died back. When new shoots appear, probably in late summer, re-pot the plant in fresh potting mix, bring it into the light and resume watering.

Paperwhite Narcissus
This narcissus bears clusters of fragrant white flowers that look like tiny daffodils. It's ridiculously easy to grow yourself. Fill a bowl with marbles or pebbles, set several paperwhite bulbs on top and add enough water to reach the bottom of the bulbs. Add more water when the level drops. In a month or so you'll have flowers. The stems lengthen as the plants bloom and they tend to get floppy; support them with dowels or thin stakes. When the plants finish blooming, toss the bulbs. Unlike our familiar spring-blooming daffodils and narcissus, the paperwhite can't take the cold and won't grow outdoors here. They're strictly a once-and-done experience for us. Buy new bulbs next year.

Christmas Catus grows new leaves after blooming then rests in summer.

Christmas Cactus
This cactus has no spines and doesn't like dry conditions. The flat, segments leaves on its arching stems are notched along the sides, and the elongated, satiny-textured flowers bloom at the tips of the stems in shades of pink, red, magenta and white. Give your Christmas cactus bright light but no direct sun, and even moisture while it's blooming. Room temperatures are fine for it. The plant grows new leaves after blooming, then rests in summer, so cut back on watering then. It loves to spend summer outdoors on a shady deck or patio. In fall, start giving the plant more water and some mild, liquid fertilizer when flower buds begin to form. Bring the plant back indoors when temperatures start to dip below 50 degrees at night. To promote a new round of flowers, keep the plant away from bright indoor lighting. A spot by a window where the plant will get mostly natural light will give it the short day length it needs to produce its lovely flowers. If you can give it what it needs, your Christmas cactus will last for many years; I've got one that belonged to my grandmother, and it continues to bloom every year without fail.

With a little TLC your gift plants can keep rewarding you with flowers well into winter, when you most need that little shot of color.