Q: How long will my poinsettia plants last? It seems a shame to throw them out right after the holidays. — M. T., Easthampton
A: I am glad you would like to keep your poinsettia plants going long term. We often do not fully appreciate these holiday harbingers. Native to Mexico, poinsettia are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and an amateur botanist who introduced them to the United States in the early 1800s. Their botanical name, Euphorbia pulcherrima, means “very beautiful,” and they certainly help brighten our homes while our garden flowers snooze away, oblivious to our need for a bit of holiday bling.
The bloom of poinsettia plants — that is, the colorful modified leaves called bracts — typically stays on the plant 6-8 weeks. Bracts are not flowers. Rather, these bright leaves surround the true poinsettia flower, a small yellowish-green structure so muted it typically goes unnoticed.
Water, light and temperature are key factors to help keep your poinsettia happy. Regarding water, during these bloom weeks, check the top inch of your poinsettia soil every couple days and water if dry to the touch. Remove any decorative wrap when you water or poke a few holes in the bottom of the wrap and let excess water drain away so the plant’s roots do not get waterlogged. Wilted plants are a sign of thirsty plants, and they tend to drop their bracts early.
Keep your poinsettia next to a window that is indirectly and brightly lit for at least six hours each day. Bright light is light where sunshine is filtered and its rays do not directly touch the plant’s leaves. Watch for and avoid both drafty and excessively heated spots.
Poinsettia enjoy temperatures between 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees F during the day. Higher temperatures shorten the plant’s life. They appreciate a cooler, 60 degree F range room at night if you are open to moving it around. Pretty much as long as you are comfortable, so is your poinsettia.
Once the bracts fall off, you can either be done with the plant or you can keep it and try to have it rebloom next year. The University of New Hampshire has a fact sheet on how to do this at extension.unh.edu/search/google/poinsettia. Over a few years, you can even nurture a poinsettia into becoming an attractive small bush — as some folks around here have done — bringing it outside when the threat of frost has passed and then back inside before frost returns.
Thanks to plant breeders, poinsettia color choices and leaf shapes now come in a stunning array of new options. Innovative varieties such as the cheery “Red Glitter,” hosting red bracts speckled as if covered in white splatter paint, sophisticated ice-white “Polar Bear” and flaunty, double-ruffled, pink-and-cream “White Rose Marble” are just a sampling of updated options.
Good luck and thanks for asking a (local) Master Gardener, M.T.
Have a gardening dilemma? Please send questions, along with your name/initials and community, to the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association at AskAMasterGardener@wmmga.org. One question will be selected and answered per week. wmmga.org