‘Tis the season for….Poinsettias! Our December Flower of the Month!

Native to Central America, these brightly colored florals have been cultivated in the US since the mid 1800’s, and gained a foothold in American Christmas decorations in the 1960’s. Now they are cultivated worldwide, and are available in many more colors including white, pink, gold, variegated, and speckled. There is a color to fit everyone’s Christmas decorations!

The question then becomes: How do you keep your poinsettias looking nice for the whole holiday season?

Poinsettias are a generally low maintenance plant. However, there are just two things you would monitor when taking care of your poinsettia -- water and temperature.

Poinsettias tolerate a wide range of temperatures. Room temperature is a fine temperature for poinsettias, but they are picky about drafts of either warm or cold air. When choosing where to place your poinsettias, try to avoid placing them near forced heater vents, fireplaces, or doors that are often open to the outside. If you have problems with drafts, you might find your poinsettia stresses out and drops most of its leaves. If that happens, you won’t be able to bring it back before the holiday.

Poinsettias originate from a family of succulent plants, meaning that they actually don’t need a ton of water. Feel the top layer of soil with your fingers. It should be just slightly moist, but not soaking. You can achieve this by giving your poinsettia a little bit of water frequently, or providing a deep watering, and then letting it dry down. If you go this route, make sure to remove the plant from any saucers, or wrappers that are keeping the water from draining. You want to let any excess water drain away from the plant.

If your plant stays too dry or too wet, it will stress out and drop leaves. Avoid these problems by watering only when it is needed, and avoid getting water on the leaves.

Besides water and temperature, there are a few more things you can do to optimize your poinsettias.

When purchasing poinsettias, look for plants with closed cyathia -- the little yellow flowers in the center of the poinsettia. Look for little yellow balls that are just starting to open. If they are already open in the store, the plants are a bit older and won’t look nice as long. If you’re buying a plant the week before your holiday event, this will be fine. If you have purchased a plant on during Thanksgiving weekend, you want it to last a long time and this becomes more important.

Remove the outer plastic sleeve when you get home to let the leaves breathe. Keep the decorative wrap on if you’d like, but make sure it isn’t bulging with trapped water after you irrigate.

Make sure to stop into Langdon of Tribeca to see our wide variety of poinsettias, or view online!