Happy December. Before I get started talking about poinsettias, I wanted to announce the winners from my last blog post. We talked about the novella collection Christmas Roses and I asked if you like roses. The comments were so sweet and touching, I picked two winners to receive a copy of the book:
Shirley Chapel and Kay Garrett. Please e-mail me through my website: www.lenoraworth.com so I can get your information!!! And thanks for stopping by!
Now, I’ve had poinsettias on my mind all week. I haven’t completely decorated my house for the holidays. Various things have gotten in the way. Mainly, writing and end-of-year doctor appointments. But we’ve had our check-ups and we’ll stumble into 2018, we hope! I have poinsettias on my mind, too, because my husband went to Lowe’s the day after Thanksgiving to buy one of those manly smoker, cooker, barbeque things that men seem to love. (So they can sit outside all day, I believe.) He also came home with six tiny poinsettias and told me with a grin, “They were on sale for a dollar each.” But I know he loves poinsettias. For years, we always try to keep them alive all year long. We have two now that have been transferred to bigger pots and seem happy in the Florida sunshine.
Here are some pictures of the tiny ones he brought home:
They are pretty and festive and right now, the only decorations I’ve set out. The rest are in the garage in plastic containers, waiting for someone to come and fetch them. But for now, these beauty do make me smile. I think we both like poinsettias for the obvious reason, but mostly because when my parents quit farming and moved to “town”, the little cottage my father bought had a poinsettia growing on the wall by my bedroom window. My mother loved it and nurtured it. It was about four feet tall and mostly green and lush. But she loved that it grew there. I did, too. My husband remembers that beautiful plant.
It’s really a shrub and is also called the Mexican flame leaf and the Christmas Star (representing the Star of Bethlehem) or Lobster Plant. To get it to bloom red, you’re supposed to leave it in the dark for at least fourteen hours per day, beginning in September. We didn’t do that with our two but one kept blooming red until we moved it and the other one, a white (my favorite) is beginning to have some pink in its tips now. We love our poinsettias and if all six of these survive, we’ll have a full garden. Here is another image that I love (from the beautiful Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee.):
Do you buy poinsettias for Christmas? Or do you have another favorite Christmas Flower? I’d love to hear your comments. And I hope you enjoy my little poinsettia pictures!
Latest posts by Lenora Worth (see all)
- Spring is a good time to do some renewal and restoration - March 21, 2018
- Some fun happenings and you’re invited! - March 7, 2018
- When you reach the end of the road, find a new path - February 21, 2018
I don’t but real poinsettias because my house is the one “where plants go to die.” However, I’m a Spanish teacher, and because of the connection poinsettias have to Mexico, I have many poinsettia ornaments on my “Feliz Navidad” themed tree. In fact, my tree topper is a poinsettia!!
*I don’t BUY…
That’s great, Melissa. I tend to force plants to die a slow death, but I try to keep my poinsettias happy. I love the journey of how the plant came to America! Felix Navidad to you!!!
First I’d like to say THANK YOU for selecting me to receive a copy of the novella collection Christmas Roses. <3 I sent the email with my address.
I've always loved poinsettias and have bought them before. However, I have never been able to get them to survive. After many, many attempts, I finally decided to enjoy them that others have instead of sending them to a life of dead twigs in a pot. I never knew they grew so big or were a bush and not just pot plant sized. I knew about the changing of colors much like a hydrangea plant due to conditions and not the plant itself.
Years ago I use to have several of the Christmas cactus and I think they are really pretty too. When we moved further north in the state, I had to downsize my plants because we downsized in houses as well plus it's colder in the winters up here. I still love plants and would love to have more but no where to winter them at and I just hate to see them die after I've babied them all year.
Kay, I’ll look for your e-mail. Thanks for that. It is hard to nurture plants in a cold environment. I have a Christmas cactus but it has been in shock since we’ve moved it from several houses to Florida. I see one tiny bloom forming and I’ve had this plant for close to forty years! My mother also loved those, too.
I hope to get your Christmas Roses book to you soon!
I love Poinsettias, but unfortunately our cat love to pull the petals off of plants. And Poinsettias are poisonous to cats. So no buying and taking a chance.
Oh, that is true. We used to have a kitty but she never bothered our poinsettias. We kept them on tables and she knew not to jump on our tables. But they are tempting to play with!
I love poinsettias, too, and have tried to keep them through the year, but no dice. So I buy them each year. I buy red ones to line the bottom four stairs of the staircase in my entry. I buy two white ones to place under a tree in my living room, which is decorated with gold and white ornaments, a number of them angels. Our family tree with ornaments through the years is in the den. I have been fortunate to have them last from 4-6 weeks.
Thanks for a very festive post! And Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you, too, Betty. Your decorations sound so pretty! It’s so much fun to discuss Christmas traditions with our readers!
My church has had a tradition for longer than I have been alive of using poinsettias in one of our Christmas programs. It is always the first Sunday in December, which helps our church look beautiful for the entire month. Members of our church and community purchase poinsettias (through a local nursery) in memory and in honor of people. During the program, children carry the poinsettias down the aisle as the names are read. It is very moving and a wonderful way to remember people who have passed away and celebrate people who are still around. And for the past few years, I have been in charge of this program. I love seeing it come full circle. I don’t have any children of my own, but seeing my cousins’ children carrying the flowers the way we did when we were their age is priceless.
Stacey, that is a great tradition. Our former church in Louisiana did that, too. We always bought two or three in memory of loved ones. That gave me an idea. I’m going to name my six little plants for people who up there celebrating in heaven. Thanks!
You know, I’ve never been a fan of the traditional poinsettias with the red leaves. But when a friend’s sister planted her Christmas poinsettia outside (in Kansas!) and it grew huge and bushy and GREEN, I just loved it. Now that they have the yellow and white-ish varieties, I like those a lot better. I’m the same with roses. Not a fan of red (even though it’s my second favorite color!) But give me yellow or coral or white roses and I’m a happy woman. Loved hearing your story.
Hi. Deb. I love yellow roses. My favorite. And yes, I favor the white-pinkish poinsettias, too. The bushes are very pretty when they are fully green. You could probably make one thrive, based on the beautiful pictures you feature of your garden!
In Hawaii, I saw a backyard filled with poinsettias. In was in December, and the shrubs were filled with red blooms. We on the tour bus gawked.
Oh, I would love that! That sounds so pretty, Terri.
Lenora I’m a winner on your last drawing. I clicked your link you provided but not sure where to put my information? I checked for contact info and I will keep trying to get through. The only place to put my info is in the space for newsletters. Is that where I should put it?
I did find a contact link at the bottom of the page. Thank you.
Oh, good!!! I didn’t see this post earlier!
Hi, Shirley. You can email me at LNwrite2@aol.com. I have contacted my web person. I don’t think my e-mails are coming through there. So sorry for the inconvenience!
I can remember when I used to try to get them to get blooming flowers. It didn’t work of coarse.