What Your Christmas Poinsettia Wants You To Know

If your Poinsettia could talk, what would it tell you? It might go something like this!

Dear Poinsettia Owner – Thanks for bringing me home! I’m glad you didn’t stick me in the trunk or a cold vehicle – I’m a tropical plant, cold isn’t my thing. Before  you scare off the children from coming too near me, let me assure you that I’m not a poisonous plant. Sure, if the cat or dog eats my small yellow berry like flowers, they might have a bit of an upset stomach but hopefully you don’t leave me around to be nibbled on by furry friends or children – the same can be said for all house plant. I’ve been given a bad rap. I won’t hurt you, if you rub my leaves you might get a skin irritation like with other potted plants but there is nothing poisonous about me.

Have you chosen a room for me yet? I need a nice humid spot away from drafts and plenty of light or my leaves fade in color. If I have the right amount of full light during the day and pitch dark at night my leaves will be a rich deep red.Of course, there’s others that aren’t red like myself, over 100 varieties of us in fact but I’m the most popular.  Give me a good  watering once a week or when I’m dry, but please let any excess water drain out to avoid root rot. My leaves drop off naturally here and there but if a lot of them start dropping off – you’re probably drowning me, or it’s too hot in here and I’m dying of thirst! Oh, and by the way, try not to get water all over my beautiful colored leaves. You know the large colored leaves are leaves right? My flowers are the tiny berry like clusters in the middle. If we’re going to live together you should know my correct body parts.

If I don’t turn out to be the ideal room-mate and my leaves droop and fall off despite your kind efforts, don’t despair. Some people say I’m fussy. In reality, I’m not a fan of change. First its the nursery and then its the transport and then an exhausting stop over at the retail outlet; it’s stressful and that change in humidity damn near kills me. Some people don’t buy us until one or two days before their dinner or event because they can’t trust us to keep it together more than a few days.

How long will I be with you? Well, I could be  your roomie for as long as a few months if you treat me well and happen to have the ideal humidity, light and temperature or a lot longer if you’re willing to go through the somewhat tricky steps of getting me to re-bloom every December but there’s a good chance you’ll be asking me to leave within a month and sometimes things just don’t work out and its a one week fling. Hopefully, whatever time we spend together will be quality.

Sincerely, Your Poinsettia

View References or Learn More About the History and Care of Poinsettias|
New Mexico State University Poinsettia leaves fell off
petaltalk Why Christmas Poinsettias are the holiday flower       
petaltalk  Poinsettia Facts  
ArapahoeLibraries Eight Things You Didn’t Know About Poinsettias
Universityof Illinois Extension Poinsettia Facts
UselessDaily 7 things you didn’t know about Poinsettias!

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