During the holiday season in Mexico, a story is told about a poor young girl who was embarrassed and sad that she could only bring a bouquet of simple weeds to her church for her Christmas offering. Her young brother tried to comfort her, saying, “Even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes.”
It is told that when the girl placed her offering on the church altar Christmas Eve night, the humble bouquet burst into a brilliant display of beautiful red flowers. From that day on in Mexico, the poinsettia plant has been known as Flores de Noche Buena ” Flowers of the Holy Night.
A native of Mexico, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) was cultivated and used by the Aztecs for dyes and as a medicinal plant to bring down fevers. It is a member of the “spurge” plant family, which includes crown of thorns, castor beans and crotons, most of which have the same milky white sap as the poinsettia.
The poinsettia was introduced to the United States in 1825 by our first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, and since its introduction, it has become an American holiday tradition.
The beautiful red petals of the poinsettia are not actually the plant’s flower, but its leaves. The poinsettia’s flower, or cyathia, is the small yellow and green berry-like center portion of the plant.
In the mid-1980s, I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Milton Sessions, the nephew of famed horticulturist Kate Sessions. I enjoyed my conversations with Milton, especially his stories about “Aunt Kate.” One story in particular was about the Sessions family’s poinsettia business. Milton told me that they did not sell the potted poinsettia plants ” instead they sold the poinsettias as cut flowers.
This puzzled me, because I am famous for breaking off the branches of the poinsettia plants I bring home for the holidays, and every time I attempted to place the branches in water, they always withered and died.
Mr. Sessions explained that the family had large cauldrons of boiling water in which they would dip the cut branches of the poinsettias and the hot water would coagulate the milky white sap, allowing the cut branches to live in water without wilting for about a week. Since I continue to break off the branches of my poinsettia plants by mistake each year, I now know how to save them “” and it works! Each holiday season, I fondly remember Mr. Sessions, who passed away in the early ’90s.
Poinsettias are the number-one selling potted plant sold in the United States, with approximately 70 million sold each year.
When selecting your poinsettia plant, choose a plant that has green foliage to its soil line. Plants that have a more “naked” bottom may tend to be older or overly exposed to elements and that will shorten their lifespan.
Besides traditional red, you can choose poinsettias in white, pink, peach, yellow or the new burgundy, and there always seem to be new hybrids that are marbled and speckled with different colors.
Known for its fabulous poinsettias for the past 75 years, Encinitas-based Paul Ecke Ranch is now run by the family’s third generation. Paul Ecke Sr. is responsible for introducing the first potted poinsettia plant in the United States and today, 75 percent of the poinsettia plants sold in North America get their start with the Ecke family.
Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts on poinsettia care from the experts at Paul Ecke Ranch:

Do place your plant in indirect sunlight for at least six hours per day
Do provide room temperatures between 68-70 degrees Farenheit
Do water your plant when the soil feels dry to the touch
Do fertilize after the blooming season with a balanced fertilizer
Don’t place plants near cold drafts or excessive heat “” fireplaces, heat ducts
Don’t expose plants to temperatures below 50 degrees Farenheit
Don’t over-water your plant, or allow it to sit in a pot of standing water.
Don’t expose your plant to chilling winds.
Don’t fertilize your plant when it is in bloom.
According to the people at Paul Ecke’s, another legend is that the poinsettia is a poisonous plant and it is not poisonous.
If you would like to bring your plants back into bloom the following season, place them outdoors in the spring or summer, when temperatures do not dip below 55 degrees.
In March/April, cut the plants back to approximately 8 inches. Begin to fertilize with an all-purpose, well-balanced fertilizer about every two to three weeks, and by May you should begin to see vigorous new growth.
Continue feeding your plant through fall. Photoperiodic in nature, poinsettia plants require long fall nights to set their buds. If you can give the plants complete darkness for 14 hours per night beginning in October, and six to eight hours of bright sun during the day, your plants should bloom for the holiday season.