As I stroll around the garden centres, nurseries and supermarkets one thing I am looking forward to is the magnificent displays of what is one of the most popular seasonal pot plants and one that has become closely associated with Christmas, yes the bright red ‘Poinsettia’. I am sure again this year in the run up to Christmas many will be purchased which is usually around 8 million in the UK half of which are grown in the UK too, to add to the Christmas decor in homes and offices all over the country. But have you ever wondered where it comes from, how it got its name and why it was linked with Christmas? Well grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee, sit back and I will try to resolve some of these questions.
First the ‘did you knows’,
• The botanical name was Euphorbia pulcherrima, yes the same genus as the popular outdoor perennial Euphorbia, but unlike the garden forms the Poinsettia is not hardy, it’s from Mexico!
• The Poinsettia is the national emblem of Madacascar.
• It is National Poinsettia Day on December 12th each year.
• In its native habitat the Poinsettia can grow up to 15ft (over 4 metres).
• The Aztecs used to use the red bracts to make a purple dye.
• The flowers of the Poinsettia are pale yellow and quite small, the red you see is modified leaves or bracts as they are known.
• It is said that the star shaped arrangement of the bracts represents the Star of Bethlehem and its colour the blood of Jesus.
• The Poinsettia is named after a former US ambassador to Mexico, Dr Joel R. Poinsett, who introduced the plant to the United States.
• Poinsettias are available in Cream, Lemon, Peach, Pink and White.
• There is a Mexican legend that tells how Poinsettias became associated with Christmas, it is said that a young girl could not afford a gift to lay at the base of the altar in her local church, she was told that a humble gift, if given in love, would be acceptable in God’s eyes, so on her way to church on Christmas Eve she picked some native wild flowers, arranged them into a small posy and placed them at the base of the altar. The blooms turned red and green and the congregation thought they had witnessed a miracle.
Poinsettia aftercare,
The most important consideration when buying a Poinsettia is to find out where it has been, I often see them on trollies outside greengrocers and even some of the larger stores. As we know they are from Mexico and are not hardy, moreover they are very sensitive to the cold and a chill can make their leaves shrivel or worse still drop off! If possible choose a plant that has been kept inside and preferably out of a draft too. I rarely choose a plant from the edge and search amongst the plants that is snuggled amongst a group of healthy plants. If you are given one as a present then you will not know where it came from so it will be a case of providing the optimum growing conditions when you get it home.
Place the plant on a sunny windowsill in a room where the temperature does not fall below 60 degrees F ( C). Ideally a poinsettia requires at least five hours of sunlight each day, although this is not always possible. Try to avoid north facing windowsills and don’t let the leaves touch the glass as this can chill the leaves. Poinsettias do not like it too dry so try to keep the compost moist. To avoid root rot it is a good idea to place the pot in a plant saucer half filled with gravel, this will help stop the plant standing in water and will help reduce drying out. Apply a half strength liquid pot plant feed once per week from December to the end of February. The bracts will last quite a long time but as the day length shortened to less than 12 hours per day the plant will start to flower, a cluster of small round yellow flowers will appear at the centre of the bracts, you do not need to do anything to these just leave them to develop.
As the bracts fade and the leaves start to drop naturally then reduce the watering and move to a cooler room and allow them to rest. They should be fine for a few months but if the stem starts to shrivel give them a little water. If you want your Poinsettia to colour up for Christmas, you will have to trick it into colouring up. In May/June carefully remove the plant from its pot and rub away some of the old compost, choose a pot that will allow at least an inch (2.5 cms) of compost between the root ball and pot. Use a good quality house plant compost and carefully re-pot the plant. Start watering the plant regularly feeding every two weeks to build up the plant. If it was quite straggly, cut back the stems by one third. At the beginning of October place the plant (Which should now be growing quite strongly) in a dark cupboard between 5:00pm and 8:00am each day. After 40 days of this treatment leave the plants in a normally lit room at a temperature no lower than 60 degrees F (C).
All the plants produced commercially will have been grown from cuttings taken in July/August from plants, once rooted they are treated as for plants grown on from last year.