The Flower Hour - Floral Ps and Qs (and Rs)

Poinsettias

Poinsettias are everywhere come December and we associate them with Christmas. My husband is a grower and poinsettias are a huge crop for the greenhouses every year. They should be 'sticking' this year's crop of poinsettias starting pretty soon, so a lot of work goes into getting them ready long before we see the planters in every store by the end of November!

The flower is actually the little cluster of buds in the center, and the colorful 'petals' are bracts. The bracts are normally bright red, but cultivars come in all shades of red as well as orange, pink, cream, and marbled. The leaves change color after several weeks of very bright light during the days and about fourteen hours of darkness. Commercial greenhouses use blackout curtain systems to control these periods of light and darkness in order to time the brightest colors for when the plants are shipped to stores for sale. Most people buy a poinsettia every year and toss it after the holidays when the color fades and the leaves start to drop, but it is absolutely possible to keep them alive as green houseplants all year and force them to "flower" yourself by putting them under a box or in a closet every night for a couple months before Christmas. But help out your friendly local greenhouse by still buying a new one each year! 

The idea that poinsettias are toxic or poisonous to pets and humans is persistent but they are not actually harmful. I doubt they taste pleasant, and it might cause discomfort and nausea, but that's about it. Of course you don't want to let your kids or cat or dog chew on it any more than you would any other houseplant, but it's not truly dangerous.

Queen Anne's lace

redbud - I always enjoy the bright magenta blossoms on the redbud trees.

This post is shared at Second Wind Leisure Perspectives for  #TheFlowerHour Photo Challenge.

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