Poinsettia FlowerChristmas Flower This is a poinsettia flower. It's the popular Christmas flower. We all know the red variety, but you also get cream, pink, orange, marbled, and pale green. In the Garden The beautiful red flowers last well into winter in our garden. They get damaged when the temperature goes down to about freezing point where the plant is growing. Unlike the flowers, the plant survives easily because our temperatures in winter do not drop much lower than freezing point. Indoors You can keep this lovely plant indoors, especially if you have cold winters and like to enjoy her beauty. Flowers There is one surprising piece of information that I have to share with you. The small yellow, green and red structures that you see in the center of this flower picture are the actual flowers. The red "petals" are red colored leaves and not flower petals. Plant Size The plant of the poinsettia can grow up to 14 feet or 4 meters high. The plant in our garden is probably about 7 feet or 2 meters high because we prune every year. You get many flowers if you have a plant that big. Cut Flowers It's a good thing that you can use these flowers as cut flowers very easily. There is just one trick to doing it and your flowers will last for a week or more! You have to seal the stems that you cut immediately. If you don't seal the stems your flower won't last an hour. It's quite shocking to see how quickly the flower flops over and wilt if you don't seal the stem. Sealing The Stem There are two ways that you can seal the cut stem. The one that I use is to immerse the stem in boiling hot water for about 10 seconds. The other way is to singe the cut end of the stem over and open flame for about 15 seconds. If you cut the stems shorter later, you'll have to seal them again. Arranging the Flowers Fresh water and foam work well for arranging poinsettia flowers. Poisonous? There is a milky substance that bleeds out of the plant when you cut a stem or break a leaf off. I don't really like this milky substance, but contrary to popular belief it's not really seriously poisonous at all for humans or animals. There is an article from the The American Association of Poison Control Centers about Poinsettia and Mistletoe if you like to know what the experts say. Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia Species: E. pulcherrima Return to the top of this Poinsettia Flower - Christmas Flower page. Return to Red Flower Pictures main page. Return to flower-pictures-online home page. |
