The Flowers & Plants Association ran a consumer-focused PR campaign for poinsettias for the fifth year running throughout 2008, featuring poinsettias on popular websites and national television as well as in the press and media and raising the profile of the plant as a Christmas essential.

flowers for Christmas publication

Beginning as early as August to ensure long-lead magazines received the information in time for Christmas publication, the F&PA ran press adverts and website editorial to encourage consumers to purchase poinsettias for their homes or as gifts.

(Sales data showed a shift in poinsettia purchasing in 2008, with more consumers buying more plants in November than they did in 2007.)

As a result of the F&PA’s activity, poinsettias were shown on primetime BBC one programme the One Show and the Andrew Marr show; as well as on popular homes website Your Home, and in regional and national press including the Sunday Mirror.

Andrea Caldecourt, Chief Executive of the Flowers & Plants Association, will attend a workshop in Europe in January to finalise details of the 2009-10 poinsettia campaign.

Source: The Flowers & Plants Association

see also:

1. Traditional Christmas flower in high demand

   Legend has it that the poinsettia made its first appearance in the hands of a poor Mexican girl named Pepita who had no gift to present the baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, according to Paul Ecke Ranch, an Encinitas grower that supplies most of the flowering poinsettias in the United States. Pepita’s cousin, Pedro, told her [...]...

2. Festive Christmas Flowers From Find A Florist Make the Season Jolly

   Find A Florist Helps Send Holiday Floral Arrangements and Christmas Trees With the Widest, Freshest Selections From Local Florists LOS ANGELES, CA, Dec 03, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to celebrate the holidays this year than with a flower arrangement from a local florist [...]...

Michael Loos
Ohio State University Extension
Q: I have a Christmas cactus that is already finished blooming. Some years, it blooms even earlier or not at all. What can I do to make sure it blooms at Christmas?

A: Christmas cactuses (Zygocactus cultivars) are true cactuses, but they grow as tropical jungle dwellers. They will bloom when the proper growing conditions are met. Cool night temperatures will often initiate flower production. If the plant is outside for the summer, cool September temperatures will begin the process.

To slow the production of flower buds, you might consider bringing the plant indoors before night temperatures drop below 55 degrees. Keep the plant in bright light. About mid-October, place it a cool location away from warm radiators or heat vents. Buds should form in time for the holidays.

If you have trouble getting Zygocactus to bloom, make sure you are treating it well during the growing season. Poor growth will hinder flower production. Zygocactus prefer well-drained, evenly moist soil. Do not let it dry out too much between waterings. After it blooms, allow the plant to dry out a bit more than before blooming. Ongoing cool, winter temperatures will extend the bloom season, and you may see flowers sporadically through the winter until spring.

Q: There are stinky little berries under my Ginkgo tree. What are they? Can I make them go away?

A: Congratulations! It’s a girl! You have a female Ginkgo tree. The fascinating Gingko is an unusual relic of prehistoric days. They are dioecious, which means the trees have separate sexes, male and female. Females produce seeds. Ginkgo trees are related to pine trees, and the berries you are seeing are from your tree. Unfortunately, the fleshy portion of the fruit produces a rather disagreeable smell.

In horticultural literature, it is often referred to as “disagreeable,” “evil,” “offensive,” “disgusting,” “repulsive,” and “abominable” and is often compared to the odor of vomit. It is due to the malodorous chemical compound butyric acid produced within the fleshy coat. Once the soft coat and the hard nutshell are removed, the interior kernel is quite delicious and can be found as an ingredient in more esoteric Asian recipes.

There is little you can do to prevent seed production. Some years, there will be few seeds to collect. In other years, you will see bumper crops. If you like the tree but refuse to have berries, you will have to cut down the tree. You can opt to purchase a known male variety like “Autumn Gold.” This cultivar (cultivated variety) will be a fine landscape specimen without the production of fetid fruit.

Q: I planted a new flower garden this summer. Will the snow hurt it?

A: Snow will act as an insulator from wind and oscillating temperatures. It will protect perennials from heaving out of the ground when temperatures freeze and thaw the surrounding vicinity. I allow leaves to cover the beds and then snow to cover the entire area. Newly planted perennials or those in very loose soils may pop out of the ground regardless of snow cover. Gently push them into the proper place as needed.

Be careful of poorly drained areas in the garden. Snow accumulation and ensuing wet soils during melt can cause root system death, and plants will suffer. Avoid piling snow on poorly drained areas when shoveling.

When shoveling or blowing snow, aim the snow away from shrubs. Snow lying on boughs may weigh down or break branches.

Call a master gardener for advice from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday and Thursday at 216-429-8235 or e-mail your questions to mgdiagnostics_cuya@ag.osu.edu anytime. Gardening information is also available at www.cuyahoga.osu.edu and www.webgarden.osu.edu. Loos is the horticulture educator of the Ohio State University Extension, Cuyahoga County, 9127 Miles Ave., Cleveland OH 44105.
Source

see also:

1. Traditional Christmas flower in high demand

   Legend has it that the poinsettia made its first appearance in the hands of a poor Mexican girl named Pepita who had no gift to present the baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, according to Paul Ecke Ranch, an Encinitas grower that supplies most of the flowering poinsettias in the United States. Pepita’s cousin, Pedro, told her [...]...

2. Artificial Christmas Trees – as Good as the Real Thing

   The benefits of a real Christmas tree are obvious; they smell good and look stunning when decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments. However if they have a tendency to shed their needles they can create a lot of mess and are not always the practical option if you have young children in the house. Artificial Christmas [...]...

3. Festive Christmas Flowers From Find A Florist Make the Season Jolly

   Find A Florist Helps Send Holiday Floral Arrangements and Christmas Trees With the Widest, Freshest Selections From Local Florists LOS ANGELES, CA, Dec 03, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to celebrate the holidays this year than with a flower arrangement from a local florist [...]...

4. Solar Christmas Lights ” Brighten Your Holiday without Energy Costs

   Solar Christmas lights are one of the most popular Christmas decorations nowadays, due to their cost efficiency and attractiveness. These types of lights will allow the homeowner to save up to 100 W per each string of Christmas lights. Solar Christmas lights add magic to any Christmas, since they do not have to be turned [...]...

Legend has it that the poinsettia made its first appearance in the hands of a poor Mexican girl named Pepita who had no gift to present the baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, according to Paul Ecke Ranch, an Encinitas grower that supplies most of the flowering poinsettias in the United States.

Pepita’s cousin, Pedro, told her that any gift given with love would suffice. Hearing this, Pepita created a bouquet of weeds gathered from the side of the road.

But realizing they were a sad excuse for a gift, she fought back tears as she approached the altar where there was a statue of Jesus. As she handed them over, she happened to glance down and see that her weeds miraculously transformed into a red bouquet of flowers — poinsettias.

The legend was recently retold a slightly different way in the London Free Press, which had the young girl grabbing branches from a poinsettia shrub, not weeds. Either way, the poinsettia remains the traditional Christmas flower.

With Christmas less than three weeks away, it’s again showtime for poinsettias — and they are keeping local growers, retailers and decorators busy.

Poinsettias are the top-selling potted flowering plant in the United States, with $181 million in sales last year, up 6 percent from 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

California accounts for 31 percent of the domestic sales for all potted plants.

At Green Thumb International in Ventura, nurseryman Jack Doughty said the most common question he gets from customers is how do you care for them.

“You want to keep them away from too much direct sunlight,” he said. And water them just like a Christmas tree, keeping them “moist but not soggy wet.”

Green Thumb is getting several shipments weekly.

“We go through them like mad here this time of year,” Doughty said.

One of the store’s suppliers is Santa Paula-based Do Right’s Plant Growers.

Owner Dudley Davis recently provided a tour of his greenhouses where about 80,000 poinsettias were growing. He pulled back plastic curtains to reveal what looked like a sea of red velvet.

“We do 85 percent of our production in the traditional red,” he said. The remaining 15 percent consists of five colors — merlot, apricot, marble, polar (white) and miro (a marbling of pink and white).

The season typically begins around Nov. 15. Davis said 10 percent to 15 percent of his crop is sold by Dec. 5.

“We’re wholesale producers,” he said. “We sell to the whole state of California and part of Nevada.”

For the first time, Do Right’s is growing a German variety called Dummen.

“All the genetics are developed in Germany,” Davis said, “and cuttings are produced in Ethiopia.”

The company purchases the cuttings and roots them at Do Right’s, a bedding plant producer that opened in 1973 and entered the niche market of selling poinsettias about 20 years ago.

“We needed something to do at that particular time,” Davis said. “We don’t sell very many bedding plants in December.”

“I love shopping here,” said Lin Johnson, a partner in Plant Persuasion, who was buying poinsettias at Do Right’s to take to customers in Brentwood and Beverly Hills.

“The quality is good,” she said. “The prices are good, and you can’t beat that. Those are the two things we look for when we put them in a home. We want them to last for the entire season so that when we take them out in January they still look good.”

As for caring for the plants, Davis echoed the advice provided by Green Thumb.

“They don’t like light,” he said. “We have to be very careful about that too, that there’s no light intrusion on the crop. The poinsettias is a photoperiodic plant, which means it blooms on short days,” he said. “They’re very sensitive to light intrusion. So if you have a poinsettia growing out in your yard, the light from your house or streetlights will probably stop it from blooming.”
Source

see also:

1. Poinsettia profile raised by Flower & Plants Association

   The Flowers & Plants Association ran a consumer-focused PR campaign for poinsettias for the fifth year running throughout 2008, featuring poinsettias on popular websites and national television as well as in the press and media and raising the profile of the plant as a Christmas essential. he campaign showed poinsettias as the perfect partner to Christmas, [...]...

2. Festive Christmas Flowers From Find A Florist Make the Season Jolly

   Find A Florist Helps Send Holiday Floral Arrangements and Christmas Trees With the Widest, Freshest Selections From Local Florists LOS ANGELES, CA, Dec 03, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to celebrate the holidays this year than with a flower arrangement from a local florist [...]...

3. How to keep Christmas cactus from blooming before Santa arrives

   Michael Loos Ohio State University Extension Q: I have a Christmas cactus that is already finished blooming. Some years, it blooms even earlier or not at all. What can I do to make sure it blooms at Christmas? A: Christmas cactuses (Zygocactus cultivars) are true cactuses, but they grow as tropical jungle dwellers. They will bloom when the [...]...

Find A Florist Helps Send Holiday Floral Arrangements and Christmas Trees With the Widest, Freshest Selections From Local Florists

LOS ANGELES, CA, Dec 03, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to celebrate the holidays this year than with a flower arrangement from a local florist found through Teleflora’s Find A Florist, the leading online florist locator? With a directory of over 20,000 local florists, Teleflora’s Find A Florist allows consumers to search for florists in specific markets and areas.
“The holiday season is a great time to send centerpieces, wreaths or even table top trees, which consumers will find through their local florists,” said Chris Campbell, Director Online Marketing, Teleflora. “And to beat the holiday rush, we recommend ordering the second week in December as peak flower sales hit the week before Christmas.”
Christmas flowers bought through florists identified on Find A Florist make great decorations for the home or office, and flowers are wonderful gifts for friends, co-workers and loved ones. With same day or next day delivery, customers can be sure that their Christmas gifts will be hand-arranged and hand-delivered by high-quality florists.
“During the holiday season, we find that winter flowers including mini callas, freesia, bouvardia, red and white tulips, star of Bethlehem, nerine lilies, paperwhites, amaryllis and poinsettias are the most popular. However, non-traditional winter flowers are beginning to show up in many arrangements,” said Campbell. “For example, Teleflora’s Festive Fragrance and Christmas Cactus arrangements are quickly becoming new holiday favorites, with their unique spins on classic Christmas decor.”
For additional information on choosing flowers, or to locate a local florist or floral shop anywhere in the country, visit www.FindAFlorist.com.
About Find A Florist:
Teleflora’s FindAFlorist.com makes it easy to locate a flower shop anywhere in the country. With over 75 years of experience connecting customers to caring florists, Teleflora shows you the right shop in the right neighborhood. Teleflora’s network of over 20,000 caring florists is made up of professionals who have met and exceeded Teleflora’s quality and reliability standards. Their partners cover the entire nation, so wherever your loved one happens to be, Teleflora can help you Find A Florist.
Source

see also:

1. Traditional Christmas flower in high demand

   Legend has it that the poinsettia made its first appearance in the hands of a poor Mexican girl named Pepita who had no gift to present the baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, according to Paul Ecke Ranch, an Encinitas grower that supplies most of the flowering poinsettias in the United States. Pepita’s cousin, Pedro, told her [...]...

2. Make Every Move Memorable with Blooms

   New Technologies RRemember the first time someone dear gave you a bunch of flowers? It really did not matter what flower it was or where it came from, as long as it was meant for you alone. As you raised the blossom to your nose, its delicate scent suddenly seemed sweeter than your favorite perfume and [...]...

3. How to keep Christmas cactus from blooming before Santa arrives

   Michael Loos Ohio State University Extension Q: I have a Christmas cactus that is already finished blooming. Some years, it blooms even earlier or not at all. What can I do to make sure it blooms at Christmas? A: Christmas cactuses (Zygocactus cultivars) are true cactuses, but they grow as tropical jungle dwellers. They will bloom when the [...]...

4. How to Make Flowers Last Through Winter

   For those who love flowers and love having outdoor and indoor flowers around their home, they know that winter can be a tough season on their plants. Cut flowers and potted flowering plants such as poinsettias and flowering bulbs can last longer when one adopts a few flower care techniques. The following is a list of [...]...

5. Artificial Christmas Trees – as Good as the Real Thing

   The benefits of a real Christmas tree are obvious; they smell good and look stunning when decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments. However if they have a tendency to shed their needles they can create a lot of mess and are not always the practical option if you have young children in the house. Artificial Christmas [...]...

6. Solar Christmas Lights ” Brighten Your Holiday without Energy Costs

   Solar Christmas lights are one of the most popular Christmas decorations nowadays, due to their cost efficiency and attractiveness. These types of lights will allow the homeowner to save up to 100 W per each string of Christmas lights. Solar Christmas lights add magic to any Christmas, since they do not have to be turned [...]...

7. Buying Flowers Online – The Ultimate Solution

   ***For a lot of people, shopping online is the perfect solution to a lot of life’s problems. It’s quick, easy and convenient, and buying flowers online is no exception. But what makes it so good? Here are just a few reasons.•Buying flowers online takes all the hassle out. Often, picking the ideal floral arrangement can [...]...