Name: Euphorbia pulcherrima – aka the Poinsettia
Type of Plant: A shrub in zones 9-11 but for most of us this is a holiday greenhouse plant. We all are familiar with the standard colors – red, white etc…but there are many more new varieties with new and novel bracts and/or foliage.
Why I Love This: Frankly, I’m loving the fact that this plant is only sold at this time of year. In a world where we can buy strawberries or roses whenever we want regardless of season, it’s refreshing to have plants that only appear in a certain time of year. I also love the many new varieties with variegated bracts or foliage.
A Word to the Wise: Don’t overlook keeping your poinsettia past the holidays, not with plans of using it next December, but with the idea that these make great container components outside in the summer. See my post about this here.
Here is the variegated ‘Tapestry’ poinsettia plant I bought last year in early December. I put it in an enameled pan I had and it was a cheerful display of color well through January.
