Plant of the Month: Poinsettia

Submitted by the Bath Gamma Garden Club

The colorful poinsettia is indisputably the plant most associated with the Christmas holiday season. In fact, poinsettias are the most commercially important potted plant in the world because of its association with the December holiday season. Over two million will be sold this year, making it the largest potted flower crop grown in the United States.

The association of the poinsettia with the Christmas season has its roots in the 16th century, when Franciscan friars used the plants to decorate Nativity scenes.

Long before European colonization, the Aztecs called the plant cuetlaxochitl in the Nahuatl language. They used the bracts (leaf structure around the flower) to make a reddish-purple dye for fabrics and employed the sap in medicines to control fevers, skin conditions and other ailments. Cuetlaxochitl was planted in the gardens of the Aztec rulers and used as offerings in religious ceremonies. 

According to Mexican lore, a young child, Pepita, did not have a gift for the baby Jesus at a Christmas Eve service. She was penniless, so all she could do was pick a bouquet of weeds to offer. The angels felt compassion for her plight. So, after Pepita set the weeds at the crèche of the Nativity, the angels transformed them into beautiful red flowers. This is why red and green are the colors of Christmas.

Joel Robert Poinsett first introduced poinsettias into the United States in 1825. While serving as the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, he had occasion to visit Taxco and found the plants growing wild on adjacent hillsides. He was impressed with the beauty of the plants and sent cuttings back to his plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina, where they were propagated and shared with botanical gardens and growers across the country. Originally, poinsettias were named “Mexican Fire Plant” but were eventually renamed after Poinsett.

The poinsettias’ popularity is credited to a California man by the name of Paul Ecke, who discovered a technique that caused seedlings to branch out, resulting in fuller plants. To promote poinsettias’ popularity as a Christmas plant, he sent plants to TV studios nationwide including The Tonight Show and Bob Hope’s holiday specials. California remains the top U.S. poinsettia-producing state.

For over 150 years, Dec. 12 was considered National Poinsettia Day to honor the day of Poinsett’s death in 1851. In 2002, an act of Congress made it official.

Over 100 varieties of poinsettias are available in shades of red, pink, white and yellow and can be solids as well as streaked, marbled and even multicolored. What we often refer to as the colorful flower is called bracts. The actual flowers are the small yellow beads in the center of the bracts.

Since poinsettias are a tropical plant, protect them from cold temperatures and chilling winds and do not leave in a car for long periods of time. Place plants near a sunny window where they will get bright indirect light for at least 6 hours a day. Avoid direct sunlight, as it will fade the leaves’ colors. Ideal temperatures range between 65-70 degrees. Avoid drafty areas. Water only when the plant is dry and do not let it sit in water. Overwatering is the common cause of death. You do not need to fertilize while the plant is in bloom.

Enjoy your plants through the holiday season and beyond. If it makes it through a long winter, enjoy the poinsettia as an outside plant in the summer. The plants will flourish with new growth and may even show some signs of color as the days become shorter once again. ∞