Christmas is just around the corner, which means you may be looking to introduce a bit of festive greenery into your home or workspace. Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are one of the most common indoor plants used to deliver some festive cheer at this time of year.
Poinsettias can be found in most supermarkets and garden centres in November and December, and often form part of Christmas seasonal displays in offices and shopping centres. As well as the traditional bright red plant, different varieties are also available – including deep red (almost maroon), cream, pink and white.
Poinsettia flowers are actually made up of the bracts, which look like petals, and the tiny yellow flowers in the centre are called cyathia. The colourful bracts attract insects to the flowers and will drop after pollination.
Seasonal colour schemes
In a mid-year survey of office workers, Ambius discovered an appetite for bright colours this Christmas with 40% of surveyed office workers saying that they planned to have a predominately red colour scheme for Christmas this year at home.
This was a more popular choice than gold (26%), silver (17%) and white (10%), suggesting that a traditional red Poinsettia could be the perfect choice for adding a splash of festive colour.
Poinsettias have a reputation for being short-lived and difficult to maintain, even over the relatively short period they are in our homes or offices.
Here are five tips to help your poinsettia look good for longer:
- Unwrap your poinsettia: Poinsettias must be unwrapped from their plastic sleeves as soon as you get them indoors.
- Keep your plant warm: Poinsettias are indigenous to the warm climate of Mexico (where they can grow quite large but tend to remain small when grown as a houseplant) and don’t do well in the cold, or being watered with very cold water. In fact, this can substantially reduce their life span. When positioning your poinsettia make sure not to place them near a cold draught or near outside doorways and ensure that they get lots of light (much like caring for your orchids).
- Don’t over-water your Poinsettia: While they can consume a lot of water, poinsettias should never be allowed to stand in water.
- Give them a pick-me-up: Whilst wilted poinsettias may have their life span reduced, soaking the root ball with warm water will often cause severely wilted poinsettias to revive. Revival should occur within one hour, so don’t chuck out your plants until you have tried this.
- Choose wisely: White or pink poinsettias will look better for longer display periods (over three weeks). Red ones tend to fade in colour if in low light and after more than three weeks.
If your workplace isn’t planning to have a live (or even replica) Christmas tree in the office this year, the poinsettia makes for a festive pop of colour and is small enough to go on a reception desk or meeting room table.
Short term hire
If you require displays for an event or exhibition, we offer a selection of products based on a short term hire agreement.
Ambius South Africa offers exquisite indoor plant displays, enhancing interior spaces with lush greenery for any festive event
The indoor landscaping and plant experts at Ambius are always on hand to help. Contact us today.
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