{"id":238,"date":"2015-12-10T09:02:35","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T14:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/?p=238"},"modified":"2018-04-18T10:06:09","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T14:06:09","slug":"poinsettia-background-on-a-christmas-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/2015\/12\/poinsettia-background-on-a-christmas-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Poinsettia: Background on a Christmas Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joan McFather<\/p>\n

Cherokee County Master Gardener<\/p>\n

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I remember the first time I saw poinsettias growing in their native Mexico\u2014good grief!\u00a0 They\u2019re TREES!\u00a0 Yes, yes, I know\u2014you\u2019re headed back to the big box store to pick up at least one of those beautiful potted plants, and someone is bound to give you one.\u00a0 Well, you can thank our nineteenth century ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett, for the opportunity.\u00a0 An avid botanist, Poincett sent samples of the winter-blooming tree, called \u201cFlor de Noche Buena\u201d or Christmas Eve Flower, back to the United States, and by the mid-1830s the plant was widely known here as the \u201cPoincettia.\u201d\u00a0 But it was still a weedy sort of shrub until in the early 1900s the Ecke family perfected grafting two varieties together, resulting in a bushier more compact plant.\u00a0 Third generation Paul Ekes, Jr. popularized Poincettias by sending free plants to television shows where they were seen in Christmas specials.\u00a0 Then in 1991 the Eckes\u2019 secret methods were discovered, and competition has flourished ever since.<\/p>\n

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\"pc4808\"<\/a>
An old postcard photo showcasing the Poinsettia as a large shrub.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That competition has resulted in spectacular forms with bracts of an assortment of colors embellished by streaks, marbling, zigzags, speckles and creamy hems.\u00a0 Leaves may be flat or curled, and plant sizes now vary from huge specimens to tiny pocket-sized ones.\u00a0 And those are <\/i>leaves you are looking at.\u00a0 Poinsettia flowers are actually found in the tiny yellow pockets called cythia<\/i> at the center of each leaf bunch or bracts that turn their vibrant colors through photoperiodism.\u00a0 This simply means they need long periods of darkness to change color.<\/p>\n

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Poinsettias can be kept outside, but they will not withstand a frost and may die if temperatures dip below 50 degrees for an extended period.\u00a0 Ideally they want a temperature in the 65 to 70 degree range, a bit cooler than many of us keep our homes.\u00a0 To keep your plant at its best, give it as much light as you can, but avoid a hot south-facing window.\u00a0 You will not need to repot unless you intend to try to keep your Poinsettia (it is generally capitalized since it is named after a person); if so, use regular potting soil.\u00a0 The biggest mistake people make is overwatering.\u00a0 Remove the foil from around the container and water about once a week.\u00a0 Avoid wetting the foliage.\u00a0 Be generous, but do not let plants sit in water-filled saucers to avoid root rot.\u00a0 Though your plant appears to be in \u201cfull bloom,\u201d it is not actively growing, so no fertilizer is necessary.<\/p>\n

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There are some caveats to filling your home with these beauties.\u00a0 Like other members of the Euphorbiaceae <\/i>family, they exude a milky sap, and some people with latex allergies may have a skin reaction after touching the leaves.\u00a0 However, despite rumors to the contrary, Poinsettias are not poisonous.\u00a0 An entertaining study at Ohio State University showed that a 50-pound child would have to eat 500 to 600 leaves at a sitting to have any side effects, and since the leaves are reportedly not particularly tasty, that scenario is highly unlikely.\u00a0 Nonetheless, if you have a determined child, be aware that the most common side effects are upset stomach and vomiting.<\/p>\n

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Now the number one question everyone asks: shall I try to keep my Poinsettia alive until next year?\u00a0 Well, the short answer is, why would you want to?\u00a0 It\u2019s a bunch of trouble, and next year you can buy even prettier ones.\u00a0 Having said that, I will admit I have had one on my kitchen counter now for a full year\u2014just to see what it would do.\u00a0 It was fairly small, a gorgeous creamy yellow.\u00a0 As one is supposed to, I fertilized it using a complete houseplant fertilizer about every two weeks.\u00a0 The bracts turned a delightful lime green\u2014I have no idea why.\u00a0 And so, over the year, the bracts have fallen by the wayside, and pretty dark green leaves have taken their place.\u00a0 I know it won\u2019t recreate the beauty it once had\u2014I have not given it the required darkness.\u00a0 I just want to see what happens naturally.<\/p>\n

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For those of you who really want to do the job right, after the holidays decrease regular watering to allow the plant to dry out some but not completely. Relocate the plant to a cool, dark area until spring or around April, then bring it back to a sunny area and water well.\u00a0 Cut all the branches back to about 6 inches.\u00a0 You can repot at this time and even take it out and sink the pot in a protected spot in your garden.\u00a0 When new growth reaches about 6 inches, start pinching out the tips to encourage branching, doing this once a month until mid-August.\u00a0 As nights become longer, bring in your plant.\u00a0 Now the laborious part: from September through November it will need 12 hours of total dark during the night, but plenty of light during the day to absorb enough energy for the bracts to turn color.\u00a0 If you can arrange cooler nights (55-60 degrees) and warmer days (65-70), all the better.\u00a0 With diligence it may just work.<\/p>\n

Or you can go buy another one in a brand new color.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joan McFather Cherokee County Master Gardener   I remember the first time I saw poinsettias growing in their native Mexico\u2014good grief!\u00a0 They\u2019re TREES!\u00a0 Yes, yes, I know\u2014you\u2019re headed back to the big box store to pick up at least one of those beautiful potted plants, and someone is bound to give you one.\u00a0 Well, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[96,98,97],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plant-profile","tag-christmas","tag-history","tag-poinsettia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions\/243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/cherokee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}