Poinsettias

This is one of last year’s poinsettias, and by last year I mean Christmas 2019.  Last winter it started in the inevitable decline of a tropical plant in Michigan in winter. I usually hang onto my Christmas poinsettias for a few months until it is too unbearable to watch it supper and decline any longer. Last winter, however, all three of my poinsettias started to grow back. I guess I kept them long enough to give them another chance at life. The unfortunate thing was that they were only growing green leaves. I did some research and learned that by limiting their light to 8 hours per day, they would start to regrow their colored leaves, the ones we all know and love and refer to as “flowers.” For the months of November and December (right up until Christmas), we religiously put a box on top of them at 3:00 every afternoon and then uncovered them at 7:00 am the next day. Nothing at all seemed to be happening, except for the occasion and unfortunate broken limb from boxing them hastily. Right before Christmas 2020, I called off the experiment. It just didn’t seem to be working since then, more and more, the color has been returning. We are still going to forgo the daily boxing, but we will continue to live them and cheer on their progress. Who knows, maybe they will still be around for Christmas 2021.