Christmas and Holiday Poinsettias at Goffle Brook Farms

Poinsettias

If you’re looking for a beautiful potted plant for this Christmas season to have around the home, poinsettias are a perfect choice. These plants provide a beautiful mix of colors, all shades being perfect for Christmas decor in any home. Along with their holiday appeal, they are also quite easy to tend to and will last for quite a bit of time. There are many uses for poinsettia during the holiday season, you can use them as decor on the tree, on the wreath, or on a mantel above the stockings. There are many ways to get creative when decorating around the holidays, and using poinsettia is just one great way to do so during the holiday season.

Since Holiday Season Poinsettias come all different sizes and pots, they make ideal accents for gift giving. Imagine Christmas morning when that special someone comes down for their morning cup of coffee and espies a lavishly wrapped gift complemented by a stunning poinsettia with draping bows and a snippet or two of garland with some frosted pine cones and greenery. Priceless.

Poinsettias have a multitude of uses this time of year. All you need do is let your imagination run wild. With stunning colors and hues and variegations, the possibilities are endless. Simply place a small poinsettia plant in a container or urn for a unique look perhaps on a coffee table. A line of red poinsettias highlighted with a cream one or two lined up on a fireplace hearth create a stunning holiday atmosphere for any family gathering. The deep foliage with bright bracts looks just perfect in contrasting white pots. Remember that poinsettias don’t only come in red! Look out for softer shades such as peach and cream and incorporate into your decorating scheme.

Poinsettia accenting Holiday Gift

There are many ways to get creative when decorating around the holidays, and using poinsettia is just one great way to do so during the holiday season.

The deep foliage with bright bracts looks just perfect in contrasting white pots.

Poinsettia are an easy, inexpensive way to add classic Christmas decor into any home with very little effort

Poinsettias at Goffle Brook Farms

Poinsettias at Goffle Brook Farms

Poinsettias at Goffle Brook Farms

Poinsettias at Goffle Brook Farms

Poinsettia with sleigh decor and Christmas Gift Decor

Here two similar sized potted red poinsettias, wrapped with a country charm style linen, are complementing a wood-crafted sleigh that holds a Christmas Holiday Gift tied with a red bow and pinecones surrounded by various little holiday knick-knacks atop a wooden coffee table in a living room.

Poinsettias like bright, indirect light. We recommend keeping them in indoor temperatures between 65 to 70 degrees.

Poinsettias don’t like to be water-logged. Check the soil every week and water only when the soil surface is dry to the touch. Let the water drain out of the pot, then dump out any excess from the saucer. With proper care poinsettias can look good until mid-January. The colored parts of the poinsettia plant are modified leaves called bracts. The bright yellow bumps in the center, called cyathia, are actually the flowers. Look for a plant that has a lot of cyathia, which tells you how fresh it is. If they’ve fallen off, the plant is past its prime.

Keep your festive poinsettia thriving during the holidays, and learn how to overwinter your plant for next-season blooms.

Five poinsettia placed within wicker baskets provide a stunning display of color strategically arranged to the side of the Christmas Tree amidst the reindeer placed on a mat among the wrapped gifts. The wall decor draws you eye inward and fills the empty wall space with holiday cheer.

If cared for properly, a potted poinsettia can last for two to three months in your home. Since poinsettia plants are from the tropics, they prefer surroundings that simulate that type of environment.

To maintain your poinsettia bloom, keep temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure to protect them from dramatic temperature drops as this will cause their leaves to prematurely wilt. For best results, keep your poinsettia in a warm room and mist it daily. This will simulate the tropical climate that it originated from.

The biggest mistake people make is that they let their poinsettias dry out for a day or so. In that case, the plant will begin dropping leaves to try to save its root system.

Poinsettias Care

Poinsettias are beautiful small plants that make for great seasonal color within the winter months, especially during the holidays. The petals, which appear to be flowers at first, are actually modified leaves which are apart of the upper part of the plant, which are called bracts. Poinsettia usually prefer to be grown as indoor plants in pots when grown in cold climates, because they are subtropical and being grown in the wrong temperatures will result in a much shorter lifespan or delay flowering. Poinsettias should be kept from 60°F to 70°F when grown indoors. Poinsettia can be grown outdoors, if the outdoor night temperatures are above 55°F. However, they should be moved back indoors when temperatures drop in the fall.

To start your poinsettias, the easiest way is to take cuttings from another poinsettia. These will usually grow into sizes of poinsettia good for smaller indoor pots. Take the cuttings sometime in August and place the cuttings into a pot with a mixture of peat moss and sand. Keep these pots in the shade and keep them somewhat moist until they root, which takes around 3 weeks. Then, move them into bigger pots full of a mixture of soil, sand, and peat moss. You want to also keep this soil mixture moist. Do not let the soil dry out. Keep the soil fairly moist until you bring them indoors in October.

When being grown inside, they require some exposure to the sun each morning as well as shade on warmer days or hot parts of the day. Poinsettias will need at least five hours of sunlight per day, so make sure to place the pot in a window that receives appropriate sunlight and shade. If you’re unable to provide proper sunlight, you will have to water your plants more frequently since the extra sunlight will dry out the soil quicker. You also should keep the humidity high by placing plants nearby or by using a humidifier. Soil should never dry out when growing poinsettias, and you will need drainage holes in the pots you’re using. However to avoid root rot, you should not let the pots sit in a saucer filled with water. If you do not use proper drainage, the soil will become waterlogged and cease airflow to the roots. You also need to be maintaining a temperature of 60°F to 70°F both day and night to ensure rich, colorful, and healthy blooms.

During the fall, in order to get your poinsettias to bloom, you will have to provide them with full darkness. Starting at the beginning of October, you need to place all poinsettia plants into a dark area that receives no light or even artificial light. After 40 to 45 days, they can return to their previous sun/shade routine. If all is done correctly, your poinsettias will produce beautiful Christmas themed blooms in early December.

Bergen County’s Best Kept Gardening Secret

Goffle Brook Farms – Garden Center/Farmer’s Market

423 Goffle Road Ridgewood,NJ 07450
(201) 652-7540