Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to a poinsettia guy. He works as the production manager at Smith greenhouses, in Oregon and we talked about all the wonderful new ‘flavors’ that are now out in the poinsettia world.  Mints and fruits seem to be the current naming trend!

One thing that really fascinated me though was the funky colors that they come out with. I had thought that the botanical gardens that I visited took weeks to produce these wonderful burgundies and blues, by injecting them with colored water.  Nope- that is done with a spray paint!  Yes an earth friendly dye is sprayed onto the leaf to create the colors.

Another topic that took my interest was that of tree forms of the plant.  I knew it was a perennial but they grow fast and from small plants in July, the lollipop version is just grown that way. Pruned to have just one stem it grows upward and then it is allowed to create the ball of leaves and turn color when the flower forms, just like the little guys do.

I am now on a mission to find one of these standard forms for the house. 

For more poinsettia information listen to the interview on www.radiosandysprings.com on Saturday, Nov 29th, 10 am.  The program will be podcast after the show and available until the New Year.