Stunning your Christmas with Poinsettias

Very Beautiful, this is the botanical translation of the euphorbia pulcherrima-poinsettiaplant- a fact you can’t help but agree. The poinsettia commonly graces the festive season as a radiating plant with its gorgeous red and green leaves. This plant remains to be the highest selling potted flowering plant for holiday decoration and is also known as the Christmas Star or the Mexican Flame. The Poinsettia is, however, a delicate plant and requires proper floral care to ensure it blooms and gives radiance to your porch or living room. Here are tips for buying and caring for your Christmas Star.

• Pick poinsettias that are rich in color with dark green leaves and bright bracts with no browning at the leaf tips. Avoid poinsettias with artificial colors since they do not glow as natural color poinsettias do.
• Ensure that the plant has no signs of wilting from lack of sufficient water.
• Buy plants that are free from disease and insect problems. Turn several leaves over and inspect them for unwanted holiday pests.
• Poinsettia should have a group of tight yellow buds at the center of the colorful brackets (flowers). If the yellow buds have started to open, the plant is past its prime.
• Once home, place your poinsettia near a window with at least six hours of bright, indirect sunlight. Avoid placing it near drafts, and keep the plant soil slightly moist, not soggy.
• If the outside temperature is below 40 degrees, the plant should be wrapped or sleeved because even though poinsettias are sold at Christmas time, they cannot withstand cold temperatures outdoors.
• Keep the Poinsettia beyond the reach of children.
• The poinsettias come in a variety of colors. As with any design, try to coordinate the flower colors with the colors of your decorations.
• Buy a colorful holiday container for your poinsettia since shiny vases they come in are meant to be temporary. Insert them into small floral vials filled with water and place them in your Christmas tree. You can add them sparingly or fill up your entire tree with the big blooms.
• One final note: One very large, colorful, healthy poinsettia makes a more dramatic and tasteful statement than a bunch of tiny plants!

Now you know… make you home holiday-ready with the very beautiful Christmas Star.