Did You Know?

ninnymary

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Poinsettias in their native Mexico grow into trees?

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Yes, actually.
One of the many, many, many facts that I tucked away before the Trivial Pursuit fad faded... and that I'm now stuck with.
 
Yes, they are one of those native perennials (like pepper and tomato) in their homeland that we always think of as annuals. I bet seeing the trees in full bloom would be amazing! My fave greenhouse has them standing taller than 8 feet right now. You would need a really special space for those plants.
 
This would have been another perfect year for getting those old poinsettias to flower for Christmas. The one year I was successful, I had accidentally left the potted plant close to the house instead of bringing it in as usual. The combination of above normal weather combined with the radiant heat from the house bricks kept the plant from freezing.

The normal period of day and night did the rest. By the time I noticed the pot under the eaves, it had already begun flushing on its top leaves. Brought inside then, the plant continued to color and then flower just in time for Christmas.

That's what living in the sticks can do. No way the plant could have flowered if I had lived near street lights or night traffic.
 
Red I don't think the new varieties are as picky about light conditions to flower. My father had one that flowered every winter, doing nothing special. Died when heat went out middle of arctic blast .
 
I know this is a old topic but had to post.

On the Poinsettia, most people don't enjoy the blossom, in fact most people don't get to see the full flower in most cases they only see half the flower if there lucky.
What we enjoy seeing is the colored Bract that come in Red, White, Pink etc. The colored Bracts isn't the flower.
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Photos from plant-care.com and bioweb.uwlax.edu
 
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