Now that Christmas is in the rear-view mirror, what do you do with that beautiful poinsettia? Do you just throw it away or do you try and keep it for next year? First here’s a little history on the poinsettia.

Poinsettias first made their way to the U.S. Back in the 1800’s when our Ambassador to Mexico fell in love with the plant. You see, in Mexico, poinsettias are perennial and as such can reach a height of 10 to 15 feet in height. In our climate, they won’t last through the winter outdoors.

Interestingly, our Ambassador to Mexico’s name was Joel Poinsette. Poinsett was also an avid, amateur botanist, so he sent samples of this plant to the United States and these plants soon came to be known as poinsettias. Today poinsettias have over $250,000,000 in sales each holiday season.

It’s natural for us to say that we love those bright red flowers on poinsettias, but the red parts of the plant are actually leaves called bracts. The flower is much smaller, typically yellow, and found at the center of those red bracts. This little tidbit might help you win a trivia game someday.

Poinsettias will never be a perennial in our garden, but we can keep them as a potted plant with a little extra care. If you do want to try and keep your poinsettia alive for next year, here’s what you need to do.

First of all, they are going to need a spot indoors that gets good sunlight. Without good sunlight, you’ll need to add a grow light. When you find the spot, you’ll want to give them a little all-purpose fertilizer in January.

Poinsettias tend to get a little leggy, so plan on trimming it back to about 5 inches in height in mid-February. In March, remove all the faded and dry parts of the plant.

When the danger of frost has passed (or maybe in mid-May) move your plant outdoors to a nice sunny location. Poinsettias like full sun if you have a spot like that. Next you’ll want to trim the plant again so that the branches are about 2 to 3 inches in length. As the plant grows, you’ll likely need to re-pot it into a larger pot. Continue watering and supplementing with fertilizer in accordance with the product directions.

Then, sometime in late September or early October, bring your poinsettia back indoors to a sunny location. The next part is fairly critical.

To encourage that beautiful red color in the bracts, the plant will need to rotate between light and absolute darkness each day. Since many of our homes are never completely dark inside, you might need to move it to a closest or special room at night during this process.

Keep this process up and somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas you should have a beautiful, seasonal poinsettia. If not, you can always go purchase a new one. 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. Communications