These tips will help you buy the best poinsettias for your Christmas holiday season.

This picture is a nearly perfect example of a poinsettia from Bloomdepot.com.
Click below to buy poinsettias from Bloomdepot.com.
Red Christmas Poinsettia	Pink Christmas Poinsettia	White Christmas Poinsettia

Buy these Poinsettias:

• Choose a poinsettia plant with dark green foliage down to the soil line.
• Choose poinsettia plants with bracts (modified leaves) that are completely colored.
• The poinsettia should look full, balanced and attractive from all sides.
• The poinsettia plant should be 2 1/2 times taller than the diameter of the container.
• Check the poinsettia's maturity. Check the true flowers which are located at the base of the colored bracts. If the flowers are green or red-tipped and fresh looking the bloom will "hold" longer than if yellow pollen is covering the flowers.

Click here for more tips on buying poinsettias and caring for poinsettias.

The site contains recomendations for growing poinsettia cultivars useful to large commercial growers as well as small specialty growers and home gardeners.

The research is the result of efforts by:

• Universities:
• Purdue University
• University of Florida - Gainesville
• North Carolina State University
• Commercial Site:
• Homewood Nursery, NC
• Commercial Breeders:
• Paul Ecke Ranch
• Oglevee, Ltd.
• Fischer USA
• Selecta First Class
• Dummen

Read more about the National Poinsettia Cultivar Trials.

The Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture is a leader in ornamental horticulture research and education.

Consumer publications available include:

• General Horticulture
• Flowers And Houseplants
• Garden And Patio Flowers
• Houseplants
• Flower Arranging
• Fruits And Nuts
• Landscape Management
• Vegetables
• Multimedia Resources

Read more about the Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.

Homewood Nursery and Garden Center is also a sponsor of univeristy research on poinsettia and other garden plants.

Read more about Homewood Nursery and Garden Center.

Dummen is an international breeder of poinsettias and other flowers. The headquarters is in Germany and operates worldwide.

The USA office is in Hilliard, OH.

Dummen is also a major sponsor of university research on plant breeding and growth techniques.

The brand name of their flower varieties is Red Fox.

Dummen produces varieties of the following types of plants:

• Poinsettias
• Pelargonium
• Geranium
• Osteospermum
• New Guinea Impatiens
• Petunias
• Begonias
• Verbenas

Read more about Dummen Plant Breeders.

The Ornamental Bioscience unit was formed in a merger with Mendel Biotechnology. Mendel has discovered ways to control flowering in poinsettias and other flowers that make them easier to grow.

Read more about Selectra First Class Plant Breeders.

Fisher is also a leading sponsor of university research on poinsettias as well as other types of flowers.

Their website has many useful resources for home gardeners as well as professional growers.

Read more about Fischer USA.

Oglevee also sponsors university research on flowers.

Oglevee sells the following types of flowers:

• Begonias
• Carnations
• Geraniums
• Impatiens
• Kalanchoes
• Poinsettias
• Streptocarpus

Oglevee's web site has a great deal of information about growing these types of flowers for both professional growers and home gardeners.

Read more about Oglevee Ltd Flower Variety Producer.

Topics at the Texas Poinsettia Producers Guide site include:

• Poinsettia History
• Poinsettia Forms and Styles
• Poinsettia Economics and Marketing
• Poinsettia Cultural Characteristics
• Poinsettia Cultivars
• Production Schedule
• Poinsettia Height Control
• Selecting a Poinsettia Growing Medium
• Poinsettia Water Quality
• Poinsettia Irrigation
• Poinsettia Nutrition
• Insect and Mite Management
• Poinsettia Diseases and Control
• Common Poinsettia Disorders
• Conversion Tables for Growers and Gardeners
• Additional Poinsettia References

Read more about Texas Poinsettia Producers Guide.

If you have a large greenhouse full of poinsettias growing and reflowering can be tricky. However, if you only have a few plants in your home it is easy.

Fortunately, there is plenty of information available on how to control these conditions properly.

The main conditions for growing poinsettias:

• Night temperatures above 50 F.
• Daytime temperatures below 70 F.
• A period of uninterrupted long, dark nights for about 2 months in the fall.

The ideal is to have a temperature of about 69 F all the time.

This is true of growing new plants or to get a plant to reflower in subsequent years.

How to make poinsettias flower or reflower:

• Light your poinsettia plants with grow lights until 2 a.m. until Sept. 25. Then cover with a black cloth from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. until Oct. 15, followed with natural day lengths.
• Keep the temperature at 69F all the time.

Read more about Poinsettia Cultivation Flowering and Reflowering.

This research is useful to commercial growers as well as gardners and consumers caring for poinsettias.

Read more about the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Poinsettia Site.

Poinsettias will make people or pets ill if they are eaten.

Individuals allergic to latex might have an allergic reaction to poinsettias since the plant produces a similar substance.

Read more about the Toxicity of Poinsettias.

Paul Ecke developed a technique for making poinsettias grow multiple branches from a single stem. The creates a fuller more colorful poinsettia plant we are accustomed to seeing at Christmas.

The Ecke family kept this a secret of poinsettia cultivation until around 1996 when university researchers were able to independently make the same discovery.

The result has been good for consumers, since poinsettias are much more plentiful and therefore less expensive than before.

Read more about the Poinsettia Monopoly in America.

Poinsettia plants have brightly colored leaves (bracts) that are often mistaken for flowers. The poinsettia true flowers are small yellow or green structures at the base of the bracts.

This familiar form of poinsettias are due to careful breeding, cultivation and harvesting. In the wild, poinsettias are a shrub or small tree. Poinsettias are originally from Mexico and Central America.

Read more about Poinsettia Description.

Poinsettias are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant in the U.S. in 1825.

Paul Ecke of Encinitas, California was responsible for the technological advance that made poinsettias a successful commercial plant. One key to poinsettia profits is getting the plants to grow so that multiple branches come off one stem, creating a fuller, more colorful plant.

The Eckes' technique, which involved grafting two varieties of poinsettia together, made it possible to get every seedling to branch. Ecke had perfected this poinsettia secret before 1910 and his family had a virtual poinsettia monopoly for about 80 years. Around 1996 a university researcher made the same discovery and made the technique public.

Since then the Eckes Poinsettia Ranch has adapted and now is a great source of technical assistance and research funding for both commercial growers and consumers.

Read more about Poinsettia Origins.

Poinsettias are a shrub that; as this photo proves, grow to the size of a small tree with thick trucks.

Image by Martin LaBar

Read more about Poinsettia in San Diego Area Garden.

Image by Old Shoe Woman.

The photo below is a great closeup shot of the true flowers of a poinsettia plant. The poinsettia true flowers in this picture are just opening. Unopened true flowers is one important sign that the poinsettia blooms will last a long time. This is an important tip when buying poinsettias.

Image by Tzatziki.

Read more about Poinsettia True FLowers.

Topics at the site include:

• Basic Poinsettia Production Guidelines
• Poinsettia Variety Trials
• Poinsettia Height Control Examples
• Poinsettia Growth Regulators
• Poinsettia Postharvest Information
• Poinsettia Disorders
• Poinsettia Grower Resources

More information about the University of Florida Floriculture Poinsettia Page.

Site topics include:

• Poinsettia Plant Structure Problems
• Poinsettia Leaf Problems
• Poinsettia Bracts Problems
• Poinsettia Stems Problems
• Poinsettia Roots Problems
• Poinsettia Insects Problems
• Poinsettia Shipping Related Problems
• Poinsettia Problems at the Consumer Level

Read more about the North Carolina State University Poinsettia Diagnostic Key.

This grower is still a major player in the poinsettia market. The Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch website has a great deal of technical information for growing poinsettias on a commercial scale. The Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch also has developed a large number of varieties or cultivars of poinsettias.

Read more about the Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch.

The Nixon Library Gardens staff has experience hosting heads of state. This talented group is a good bet to make your wedding planning and wedding ceremony stress free.

The Nixon Library Gardens set up to host a wedding.

The gardens are an inspiration to gardeners from all over. The Nixon Library Gardens is also a great place to host a wedding or wedding reception.

Highlights of the Nixon Library Gardens include:

• One hundred Veterans Honor roses planted just outside the White House East Room replica.
• The Library's Andrew Jackson Magnolia tree, grown from a seedling given to First Lady Pat Nixon. The original Andrew Jackson Magnolia, featured on the $20 bill, was brought by President Andrew Jackson to the White House in 1835, transplanted from his Tennessee estate, The Hermitage.
• A bed of flowering magnolia soulangiana next to the East Room replica. Identical and in the same location as the White House magnolias, the Alexandrina, with its pinkish-purple saucer-sized blooms, was selected in consultation with the staff of the White House gardens.
• Twenty Debutante camellias, a soft pink that was among Mrs. Nixon's favorite colors, grace the elegant Muth Patio adjacent to the White House East Room.
• Near the cornerstone of the East Room replica is a bed of classic soft pink, 1843 roses, Souvenir de la Malmaison.

Image by Miss Shari.

The Nixon Library and Gardens exhibits many traits of a great flower garden in a Mediterranean Climate.

There is a pond to capture rainfall and the grounds make extensive use of native plants.Yorba Linda receives most of its rainfall during the winter. This makes water efficient gardens important in Yorba Linda.

Image by Miss Shari.

The Nixon Library Garden in Yorba Linda features many friendly paths for a stroll. Your garden needn't be so grand to be just as welcoming.

Image by Miss Shari.

The Nixon Library Garden in Yorba Linda has flowers at every turn. Nothing looks more beautiful than flowers against the sky.

Image by Miss Shari.

Give visitors to your garden a reason to look upwards. The Nixon Library Garden in Yorba Linda uses flowering trees to add color to upward views.

Image by Miss Shari.

Water is a great feature in any garden. This fountain at the Nixon Library Garden in Yorba Linda is striking and has a cooling effect in summer.

Image by Miss Shari.

Water is a great feature in any garden. This is a step fountain at the Nixon Library Garden in Yorba Linda. This is a good example of using stored water to create a cooling effect in a garden. This works especially well in low humidity climates like that in Yorba Linda.

Image by Miss Shari.

Garden flowers should be placed so that they invite a passerby to stop and take a sniff. The Nixon Library Garden in Yorba Linda makes good use of this principle

Image by Miss Shari.

The Nixon Library Garden is a great place for a garden wedding. It rarely rains in Yorba Linda in summer.

Image by Miss Shari.

Yellow flowers make a garden a cheerful place.

Garden flowers should invite you to take a closer look.

Images by Miss Shari.

Image by Miss Shari.

These garden flowers look delicate as a snowflake. Yorba Linda has a mild climate that is friendly to delicate flowers and plants.

Image by Miss Shari.

The Nixon Library and Gardens features over 1,400 rose bushes. Yorba Linda is a perfect place for rose bushes.

Image by Miss Shari.

The use of palm trees and other semi-tropical plants that sets this California Formal Garden apart from its European cousins.

Yorba Linda, California climate information will help you:

• Plan a wedding in Yorba Linda, California
• Select flowers for your garden in Yorba Linda, California
• Determine what garden plants grow well in Yorba Linda, California
• Select a lawn grass that grows well in Yorba Linda, California
• Design a green garden in Yorba Linda, California

Yorba Linda, CA has a Mediterranean Climate.

Key characteristics of Mediterranean climates for growers and gardners:

• Almost all rainfall is in winter months
• Summers are very dry
• Very mild winters
• Mild to warm summers

Many great garden plants and flowers come originally from Mediterranean climates. A great example is the california poppy . These plants have beautiful golden blooms and thrive in other Mediterranean climates as well.