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๐ŸŒบโค๏ธ Poinsettia Day (Dec 12): How to Choose, Care For & Keep Your Holiday Poinsettias Thriving
December 12th is National Poinsettia Day, and if youโ€™re a gardener (especially a container gardener!) this is basically a mini-holiday just for you.
Poinsettias are more than pretty December dรฉcor. Theyโ€™re living plants that, with the right care, can stay vibrant all season longโ€ฆ and yes, you can even keep them alive into the new year.
Letโ€™s celebrate this festive bloom with a PGS-style guide to choosing, caring for, and absolutely loving your poinsettias this December.
๐ŸŽ„ ๐€ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐œ๐ค ๐†๐š๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง ๐๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐Œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ: ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ ๐„๐ฑ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ
Poinsettia Day honors Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant here in the 1800s.
In Mexico, poinsettias are called โ€œLa Flor de la Nochebuenaโ€ โ€” the Flower of the Holy Night They grow as full-on shrubs and even small trees.
Container gardeners donโ€™t get poinsettia trees (sigh)โ€ฆ
But we do get the most festive houseplants of the year.
๐ŸŒบ ๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‚๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐š ๐‡๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐š (๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐ž๐œ๐ค๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ!)
When shopping, look for:
โœ” Bright, vibrant bracts (the colored part, not the flowers!)
โœ” Fresh, perky leaves
โœ” No yellowing or browning
โœ” Tight, green or red cyathia (the tiny true flowers at the center)
โœ” Full, bushy shape
โœ” No broken stems or wilting
๐“๐ข๐ฉ:
Avoid plants wrapped in plastic sleeves that trap heat. They go downhill fast.
๐ƒ๐จ๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐“๐ข๐ฉ:
If the plant has been sitting in a cold store entrywayโ€ฆ skip it. Cold damage shows up later.
โ„๏ธ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐š ๐“๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐“๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ (๐‚๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ƒ๐ž๐œ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ)
Poinsettias LOVE stable temps:
๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ“โ€“๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ“ยฐ๐… ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐ฒ
๐Ÿ”๐ŸŽโ€“๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ“ยฐ๐… ๐š๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ
๐€๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐:
* Cold drafts
* Heater vents
* Fireplaces
* Doorways
* Windows that freeze at night
* Riding home in a cold car (๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ฆ ๐‘…๐ธ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฟ๐‘Œ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก.)
If itโ€™s freezing outside, make sure the nursery bags the plant well before you leave.
๐ŸŒค๏ธ ๐‹๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ž๐ž๐๐ฌ (๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ƒ๐จ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐–๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐’๐ฎ๐ง!)
Place poinsettias in:
โœ” Bright, indirect light
โœ” 6โ€“8 hours daily
They will ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ scorch in full sun, especially in a south-facing window.
East windows or pulled back slightly from bright windows are perfect.
๐Ÿ’ง ๐–๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ : ๐“๐ก๐ž #๐Ÿ ๐‘๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐‹๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐š๐ฌ
Water only when the ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ ๐Ÿโ€“๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ฒ.
Then water thoroughly...
๐๐”๐“! Be sure to empty the decorative foil or cache pot so the plant isnโ€™t sitting in water.
๐Ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฌ
* Yellow leaves
* Leaf drop
* Mushy stems
๐”๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฌ:
* Drooping
* Crisp edges
* Color fading
Both are fixable if caught early!
๐ŸŽ ๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐‘๐ž๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ ๐ˆ๐ญ?
Nope... not in December.
Poinsettias are happiest staying in their nursery pot during the holiday season.
Repotting stresses them and causes leaf drop.
If you dislike the plastic pot, slip it into a pretty container or basket instead.
๐ŸŒฟ ๐…๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐†๐’-๐’๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ˆ๐๐ž๐š๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐š ๐ƒ๐š๐ฒ
โœจ ๐Ÿ. ๐‚๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐š ๐‡๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐š๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐š ๐๐จ๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ญ
Pair your poinsettia with:
* Winter ferns
* Ivy
* Small evergreens
* Pinecones
* Battery-operated fairy lights
Keep poinsettia protected from cold winds!
โœจ ๐Ÿ. ๐Œ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐š ๐Œ๐ข๐ง๐ข ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐š ๐†๐š๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง
Cluster several together:
* Red
* White
* Pink
* Marbled
* Speckled
Add ornaments, ribbon, or twinkle lights.
Instant holiday cheer.
โœจ3. โ€œShow Us Your Poinsettia!โ€
Where is your poinsettia living this year?
Bright window? Kitchen counter? Right next to your Christmas tree?
Post your photos below!
Bonus points for creative containers or holiday dรฉcor! ๐ŸŽ„โœจ
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Donna Scarborough
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๐ŸŒบโค๏ธ Poinsettia Day (Dec 12): How to Choose, Care For & Keep Your Holiday Poinsettias Thriving
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