As part of our holiday tradition, we always purchase a poinsettia or two. They are just so beautiful. Is there a way to keep them from year to year? TD

There’s no doubt that poinsettias are one of our favorite Christmas plants as evidenced by sales of over $250 million dollars per year, especially since there’s only about a 6-week sales season.

Poinsettias get their name from Joel Poinsett who was the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. He fell in love with the plant and brought them north to the United States. In Mexico, poinsettias are perennials and can grow to about 10 to 15 feet in height. December 15^th was actually National Poinsettia Day which falls on the date of Poinsett’s death in 1851.

Interestingly, poinsettias are known by several other names including Lobster Flower of the Flame-Leaf Flower because of the bright red color of their bracts. Those red bracts are modified leaves and they are not the flower. The flower is found at the center, where the bracts come together.

I understand that as gardeners, we hate to throw away a plant if there’s a chance we can keep it alive. While it can be challenging to keep and get your poinsettia to bloom again next year, it’s not impossible. To do that, here’s what you are going to need to do.

1) At the beginning of the year, fertilize your poinsettia with an all-purpose plant fertilizer and keep it indoors in a place that gets good sun.

2) Poinsettias can sometimes get leggy, so plan on trimming it back mid-February to a total height of about 5 inches.

3) Around mid-March remove all the dried and faded parts of the plant.

4) In mid-May when the danger of frost is over, move the plant outdoors to a place that gets indirect sun. Trim the longer branches to about two or three inches to shape the plant. As it grows you will probably need to re-plant to a more appropriate sized pot. Continue to water and fertilize according to the fertilizer directions.

5) Somewhere in late September or early October, bring the plant back indoors and locate in a sunny location. Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. You will need to rotate the plant between sunlight and absolute darkness each day, so the bracts begin to develop that dark red color. To do this, place them somewhere with absolute darkness from about 5:00 each evening and remove them about 8:00 am the following morning. You will need to do this daily for about two months. If you do, the plant should look like you hoped for by Thanksgiving.

If all of this seems like too much, you can always purchase a new plant each year like the rest of us do. Good luck.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: OSU Ag Services