The plant that most epitomizes the Christmas season is the Poinsettia BUT (and it is a BIG but) if you aquired one as a symbol of the season or cause you're a plant lover do you keep it to grow on amongst the floral and fauna of your home or do you toss it when the tree comes down? I love red poinsettias the most and think it a total crime to now see them appearing in stores in blues and purples and all colours of the rainbow. Traditionally a poinsettia is red and to me ONLY red however that being said in the far far distant past I was gift a poinsettia and then felt duty bound to keep it and try and grow it on. What a disaster. I watered and watched as one leaf after another dropped. I moved it location to location all around the house trying to find a spot it 'liked' only to find that it continued on its path to looking like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. I faithfully pick up each and every leaf, watered it more, watered it less, re-potted into a larger pot finding all my efforts to be in vain. It did manage to make it to late summer early fall looking like a be-draggled branch off a yellowed shrivelled willow tree. By then all hope of it ever producing another RED leaf gone. From memory it accompanied the pumpkin into the bin day after Hallowe'en. For years I both admired and shunned these symbols of the season until this year when OMG OMG OMG I was gifted another. Not proud of my actions but I was invited out to a dinner Christmas eve and I "re-gifted" the beautiful lovely Red Poinsettia I was given to the Hostess and smirked when I noticed that "yes" there was indeed one yellow fallen leaf visible inside the clear plastic plant wrap. Do you Poinsettia or do you NOT Poinsettia???
We have a poinsettia each Christmas season--either as a gift from a friend or purchased ourselves.It is a hearth ornament. I held one for over a year, even putting it in a dark closet to simulate the dormant time, and it lived but did not thrive. Now after we have enjoyed the seasonal plant, we compost it.
They were first found in Mexico, making them a tropical plant that will thrive in zone 9-11. They do require bright light, and make sure it is not in a drafty location especially as the temps fall, they also do not like cold windows or hot or cold air coming from AC or heater vents or when outside doors are opened temperature changes like that can cause leaf drop. But leaf drop does not necessarily mean dead plant. You can cut the bare stems back to 4-6 inches above soil level and wait for possibly new blooms if the roots are still alive. Starting in October they require 12-14 hours of total dark in order to start the blooming process the next year. They are not poisonous but being in the Euphorbia family, the sap in the stems can cause skin irritation and if a pet eats the sap they will have a stomach ache.
I had the same problem but,,,after the season and all the leaves fell off, I just kept the same watering schedule. Then it started producing leaves and a short time later I had a beautiful green plant ! No flowers but didn`t have time or inclination for the dark thing ! I just enjoyed the greenery !
We always have poinsettia's at Christmas. We got five smallish ones and stuffed them into a clay Mexican cooking vessel. The effect is nice we think. We selected red and white ones at the garden centre.
I always buy one and sometimes get gifted another one or two. I do like them, especially nestled amongst my other plants, their red shouting out amongst the green. But yes they are a problem. I still find it difficult to throw out a plant when it's time is due.
I have one from last year that I left outside and it doesn't look like a traditional poinsettia any longer, but still beautiful. I recently repotted it and realized I had three separate plants so they are gracing my porch in three separate pots. I agree with the red thing though. I saw them somewhere on sale and wouldn't get one because they did not look right...
