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How to pick the perfect poinsettia
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Poinsettias are the Christmas flower throughout the world. Stores start selling this unique euphorbia around Thanksgiving, and, if you are lucky, your plant will survive beautifully until the end of the season. Some of that depends on the plant that you buy and knowing how to pick the perfect poinsettia is worth knowing.
The red, or blanched, ‘leaves’ of the plant that make it associated with the holiday season are not true leaves, but a modified leaf called a bract. When the days get short and the poinsettia is ready to flower, the red color forms. The actual flower itself is in the middle of the bracts and can be seen as small yellow bumps. This is the part that you should inspect before picking a plant.
The bracts are formed when the flower develops and are intended to attract pollinators to the area. Once the flower has been fertilized, the plant goes into seed making mode and the color fades, leaving a green plant until next year. So looking for the yellow flower head to be open is one way to determine if the plant is past its best for the season.
Another major problem with poinsettias is that they suffer from dampness and fungal disease. This is primarily a gray mold that forms on the leaves. Over wet soil and getting the leaves wet can create this problem. So look at the base of the plant to see if there are any yellow decaying leaves which indicates that fungal disease may be present.
Avoiding plants that are past their seasonal best, as well as those that have potential diseases harboring in the pot, can help ensure that you will have a great poinsettia for the whole of the holiday season.
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