The iconic flower of the Christmas season owes its fame to a native South Carolinian.
Joel Roberts Poinsett of Charleston was the first U.S. minister to Mexico. In 1828, he found a beautiful euphorbia plant in bloom there and sent samples back home. Today we know it as the poinsettia, and according to Dr. Jim Faust, a Clemson University poinsettia researcher, it’s the number-one-selling potted flowering plant in the U.S.
Faust has some tips for enjoying your poinsettias as long as possible. Success starts with selecting good quality in the garden center. Look for plants with healthy flowers—the small, green-and-yellow bead-like structures in the center—and fully colored bracts, usually bright red, white, pink or burgundy.
You want abundant, dark-green leaves all along the stems. Avoid poinsettias with drooping, wilted or yellow leaves, bare stems and unbalanced or damaged branches. Check the container size; cheaply grown plants potted in undersized containers will appear disproportionately large. Plants with some growing room for their roots are more likely to survive the season.
At home, place your poinsettia where it can get at least six hours of bright, indirect sunlight each day. An east- or south-facing window with a sheer curtain to filter the light is perfect. Avoid placing it near heat-emitting appliances (stoves, fireplaces, vents), as excessive heat will cause premature leaf drop. Also avoid cold; poinsettias are tropical plants that prefer temperatures between 50 and 75 degrees.
Poinsettias depend on moderately moist soil. Water when the soil surface feels dry, but don’t fertilize it during bloom. If there’s a decorative foil pot covering, remove that when watering to allow the soil mixture to drain. You never want the plant to sit in standing water.
Faust says modern varieties should last at least a month in the home with this simple care.
Many folks opt to discard their faded Christmas flower after the holidays, but if you like a challenge, you can keep your poinsettia and attempt to make it bloom again next year.
When the decorative bracts have faded, usually in late March or early April, prune the plant back to 6 to 8 inches tall and fertilize with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer. This encourages new growth to emerge. Move your plant outdoors once nighttime temperatures stay above 50 degrees. Acclimate it in a shady spot at first, then gradually move it to less shade over a two-week period, ending in full sunlight. Fertilize it every two to three weeks through spring, summer and fall.
Early in June, repot your poinsettia into a slightly larger container, using a quality potting mix, and pinch back the shoot tips once or twice before Sept. 1 to encourage more branching.
Once outdoor temperatures dip below 60 F, bring your plant indoors. Starting the first week of October, give it 14 hours of complete, uninterrupted darkness at night and six to eight hours of bright sunlight during the day. Caution: Any interruption in the nightly dark period—even briefly turning on a light—may reset the bloom cycle.
Your careful efforts will reward you with colorful bracts and flowers in full bloom between Thanksgiving and Christmas.