Poinsettias for Christmas

Countdown to Christmas

This Thursday is Turkey Day. For those of you who are unaware of the American holiday of Thanksgiving, this is the day we gorge ourselves with good food surrounded with family as we thank God for all we have before we make out our Christmas list for Santa. Yes, Thanksgiving is the official kickoff of the holiday season and with that comes the much loved Poinsettia. 

The poinsettia is a member of the Euphorbia family and originally hails from Mexico.  Starting as a simple red flower, hybrids have given us colors and patterns of red, pink and white. Each being more beautiful than the next.

But you know all this.  What you want to know is how can you keep it looking beautiful for the whole Christmas season.  So let's start at the beginning.

Choosing your poinsettia.  First you have to know that the coloring you see on the plant is not the flower.  The red (or what ever you have chosen) are leaves that have colored to attract pollinators to the little flowers in the middle of the leaves.  I hope you can see them in the picture I have included.  If you are buying your poinsettias early, be sure that you pick a plant that has not blossomed yet.  The buds should be tight and green.  Later they will open to reveal small yellow petals and longer stamen with read tips.  These plants will stay fresh the longest.  As for plant structure, choose a compact plant.  The branches are brittle and the compact plant branches will not break as easily. 

After you get you poinsettia home is when the hard part starts.  The poinsettia likes full sun but needs a minimum of 10 hours of complete darkness to set a bloom.  The bloom is already set so the complete darkness is not as important as the sun.  Where this becomes difficult is that most of us want to use our beautiful plant within our decorations. 

Here is what I have to say about that.  Place the poinsettia in an area where it will get what it needs to flourish.  Give it full sun that is out of drafts.  Keep it damp but not wet.  One hour before your company comes.  Place your plant where you want it to steal the show. Please do not put it too close to the fireplace. If you want to keep it in the same place all of the time you will have to plan to replace the poinsettia every 2 weeks.  The only other option is to buy silk.

After Christmas we will talk about keeping your poinsettia until next year.  If you have any questions, add a comment to this page or email me at joneskathee@gmail.com

Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving.
k.k.jones