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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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Stunning pics of the poinsettia farm! I've never been able to keep them after Christmas. But, wow, so many colors. Your shots of Queen Anne's Lace are also lovely. I've never see a redbud tree but it's a beauty! Nicely done on capturing PQ and R!
ReplyDeleteMost people give up on their holiday poinsettias once the leaves start to drop and it's not that interesting when it's just green. LOL And takes some work to force the color change too.
DeleteI followed up a little on the redbud and its natural range is the eastern US so it's probably not very common where you are.
thanks for stopping by and commenting!
These are lovely photos! I've never heard of a redbud tree but they are pretty.
ReplyDeletepretty sure I didn't know about them until we'd been in Maryland for a few years. I remember asking my husband every spring what kind of tree that was because I wanted one in my yard. I would like one in my yard now but I wouldn't know where to put it.
Deletethanks for stopping by and commenting!
Gorgeous choices. I didn't even think of Pointsettias.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was pansies, but when I started looking through my greenhouse photos the poinsettias became the obvious choice because I have SO many photos!
Deletethanks for stopping by and commenting!
Hi Kym. What an interesting article on poinsettias. Your pictures of them are lovely. Q was a hard one to find, but you did well. The redbud was unexpected, but we have a lot of them along the streets in Visalia and I didn't even think of them. Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't a lot of Q flowers to choose from, are there? The redbud wasn't the first one I thought of for R but I do love the color and what a welcome sight they are in spring.
DeleteThanks for stopping by and for your very kind comments!