Poinsettia Christmas Star Flower

Poinsettia Holiday Decor

Poinsettia is known as a popular Christmas star flower often given as a gift during the holiday season.  Poinsettia Euphorbia pulcherrima is a well-known  member of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae commonly sold as an ornamental Christmastime item.  The poinsettias is the world's most economically important potted plant sold across the United States.  Each year in the U.S. approximately 70 million poinsettias are sold in a period of six weeks valued at 250 million U.S. dollars. With more than 100 varieties consumers are guaranteed to find a favorite among the selection of plants. 

Poinsettias are traditional Christmas plants that will last through the Christmas season into the New Year of 2024.  With their brightly colored petals n various shades, poinsettias are the best-selling plant in the U.S and Canada. Poinsettias are plants that bloom in various colors especially around Christmas including the best seller Prestige Red, Jingle Bells with red brackets splashed with pink or white color, Winter Rose Early Red features smaller curled dark red brackets that resemble a rose bloom, Holly Point highlight variegated foliage with red flower brackets, Tri-Color Red with white and pink brackets on the same plant.  Silk poinsettias are a welcome addition to the season often used in holiday decor items placed in arrangements, garland, wreaths, and Christmas table settings.  Creative Display's large premier silk poinsettia plant Christmas decoration is amazingly lifelike and realistic no one will know these gorgeous flowers aren't real, sold as 17”x15” two packs on Amazon.

It is perfect for creating a holiday poinsettia tree display or tabletop centerpiece for a special event.  Live poinsettia plans can be purchased at your local realtor during the holidays often sold at grocery store settings, plant nurseries and florists. The poinsettia plant is native to Mexico and Central America where it grows in moist wet wooded ravines including rocky hillsides where it thrived.  It was named after Jole R, Poinsett who popularized the plant introducing it to floriculture while he was a U.S. Minister to Mexico in the late 1820’s. Cultivated varieties are available with white, pink molted and striped brackets but the solid red varieties are available in various shades and still remain in greatest demand during the Christmas holiday season in 2023. In warm climates the poinsettia is a winter flowering leggy shrub ranging about 3 meters or 10 feet in height, as a potted plant in northern areas it rarely grows beyond 1 meter. 

Petals are actually colored leaflike brackets that surround a central cluster of tiny yellow flowers with long woody stems and dark green dentate leaves. According to HGTV care for your poinsettia through and beyond as this tropical plant has iconic roots.  Care and maintenance for a poinsettia plant may be a mystery. Poinsettia care can help extend those blooms as long as possible and maybe encourage the plant to bloom again next year.  Warm poinsettias with ample sunlight in a sunny window with east. west or southern exposure is the best. Try to keep the temperature between 65 to 75 degrees during the day keeping in mind the area around a drafty window can be quite a bit cooler dropping off in temperature. At night poinsettias are at slightly lower temperature around 55 to 60 degrees but avoid drastic drops.  Water the poinsettia whenever the top of the soil feels dry but don't flood or soak it.

If your home is dry during the winter months a humidifier or mister can help the plant stay hydrated. Poinsettias stay attractive for months but it is tricky to get them to rebloom once again that is unless you live in subtropical areas.  You can transplant the poinsettia into your garden in warm areas in January and let the natural changes in daylight trigger their color later that year. To coax your plant back into bloom let it dry out gradually starting in April watering the plant just enough to keep the stems from shriveling then place the pot in a spot that states 60 degrees. 

In Mid may prune the stems back to 4 inches in height then repot the plant in a slightly larger pot.  Move the plant to a warm sunny location and resume watering.  When growth emerges, fertilize the plant every two weeks with a complete fertilizer using a balanced fertilizer that contains a little bit of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium such as all-purpose Miracle Grow Plant food to encourage new growth for the next Christmas holiday season. 

In July pinch back the stems then pinch back the stems in mid-August.  Poinsettias need 10 weeks of 12 hours or less of sunlight each day to flourish in color.  For Christmas flowers keep the plant in complete darkness from 5 PM to 8 AM daily starting around October 1 to encourage blooms. For the ambitious gardener, poinsettia seeds are readily available from CHUCKY Red Poinsettia Shrub 100 count plant seeds packets sold on Amazon.  Grow sow your own poinsettia plants in a sunny location for the next special holiday occasion. The plants can be kept as house plants though they require specific care during the growing season to trigger the brackets to change color then bloom once again the next year.

Cheers!

Patricia Lynn

Images Courtesy of Pixbay