Did you know that the poinsettia, or nochebuena (Euphorbia pulcherrima) as it is called here, actually comes from Mexico? According to ancient lore, the Aztecs used its leaves and flowers for medicinal purposes and also to dye cotton cloth.
After the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century, Franciscan friars began to decorate their Nativity scenes with poinsettia flowers, forever associating it in the minds of their new congregations with the Christmas season. In 1823, Joel Poinsett, the first US ambassador to Mexico, saw the plant during a visit to Taxco in Guerrero. He fell in love with the colorful red flower bracts, sent cuttings back to his South Carolina plantation and spent the rest of his life growing it. Today the plant that bears his name is a symbol of Christmas the world over.
Poinsettias can reach heights of up to four meters if planted outside and in some Yucatecan villages even become small trees! When this season’s poinsettias have finished flowering why not try and keep them for next year? If you live in a cold climate store your plants in the greenhouse until temperatures begin to rise and then move them outside for the summer.
