Poinsettias are making their annual appearance to liven up homes, offices, and stores for the holidays. To assure you are ready to keep your poinsettia festive into January and to impress people with your knowledge at holiday get-togethers, here is more on this festive plant.

Let us start with poinsettia trivia. The showy red, white, or pink colored assumed to be flowers are not flowers at all, but modified leaves called bracts. Look in the center of these bracts for the yellow beadlike flowers. Bracts develop the showy color after the poinsettia receives a critical dark period, which is what defines a “short day plant.” These types of plants need lengthening uninterrupted darkness each consecutive 24-hour period over several weeks, starting in early October for poinsettias, to trigger them to change color and to flower. Chrysanthemums are also short-day plants; hence they bloom outdoors in fall.

More trivia. Despite the fact we often are told poinsettias are poisonous, they are not. Extensive tests have proven the idea poinsettias are poisonous to be false. Before you decide to make a creative holiday salad, as with most plants, consuming one could still lead to stomach distress. Children and pets should not be allowed to ingest any indoor plants.

Finally, the where does the name poinsettia come from? The Aztecs in Mexico cultivated poinsettias, and Joel Robert Poinsett, United States Ambassador to Mexico, found the plant on hillsides of Taxco in 1825 and was first to bring them to the United States. Growing outdoors in Mexico these plants were taller than the potted plants found indoors. Crop improvement since the early 1900’s has led to the wide variety of poinsettias we see today.

While standing around and discussing trivia, your poinsettias need to look as festive as possible. Two simple guidelines will keep poinsettias looking top notch into the New Year. First, as with many potted plants, roots do not like to sit in water. Roots of the poinsettia kept excessively wet may rot due to lack of oxygen. Poinsettias usually come in pots wrapped in colorful decorative foil. Either remove this wrap or place some holes in it so water can drain out after watering. Avoid overwatering. Allow the soil surface to dry slightly before watering again.

The second guideline is to locate your poinsettia away from drafts. Poinsettias should not be in direct line of heat ducts. Likewise, avoid locations that are subject to a blast of frigid air every time the door opens. Ideal temperatures would be in the 60-to-68-degree range and avoid temperatures above 75 as it will speed up aging of the plant.