Blogmas Day 16 | How to Choose the Perfect Poinsettia
Welcome to Blogmas day 16! I'll be publishing a Christmassy blog post every day on the run up to Christmas Day, so keep checking back for some more festive content! Today, I'm going to be telling you how to choose the perfect poinsettia, meaning you'll be able to enjoy it all Christmas long.
Poinsettias are synonymous with Christmas, and I for one will not have a Christmas without one. But how do you know that you're choosing the right one? How can you be sure that will last throughout the entire festive season and beyond? I'll be giving you a few of my top tips for finding the perfect poinsettia that you can be sure will last all Christmas long.
Look at the bracts
Bracts refer to the "flowers" that a poinsettia has. Contrary to common belief, a poinsettia doesn't have red flowers, they have red bracts. They should be thought of more as leaves than as petals. But they're a good start if you want to make sure you're choosing a healthy Poinsettia for Christmas. The bracts should be bright red, firm and outright. They should not be drooping or curled.
Check the leaves
While bracts are, technically, leaves, take a good look at the green foliage that a poinsettia has. Feel free to move the red bracts out of the way to have a good inspection of the green leaves. The green foliage should be dense and completely undamaged.
They should have no discolouration or be deformed. Most importantly, they should NOT be losing ANY of their leaves. The stronger the leaves, the more likely your poinsettia is to thrive throughout the festive period.
Locate the flowers
An odd request, but as already said, the red foliage are not flowers, they're bracts, which are more closely related to leaves than petals. But a poinsettia DOES have flowers, you just need to find them. The blooms are actually located right in the middle of the bracts.
Often mistaken for pistil or the centre of the "flower", they're yellow-green and are an indicator of the freshness of the plant itself. A fresh poinsettia will have yellow-green flowers and they will be in bud.
Feel the weight of the pot
The heavier the pot, the better it's been looked after. This is purely an indicator as to how much it's been watered, or not. If it's very light or extremely heavy, then don't buy that one. Choose one that has some weight to it for good measure.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that you found it useful? Let me know in the comments below what you look for when buying a poinsettia for Christmas and I'll see you all again tomorrow for Blogmas day 17!
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