Poinsettias and Christmas Plants: How to Choose Them and Keep Them Looking Their Best

Walk past any florist's window in the second half of November and you will see them: rows of poinsettias in every shade from pillar-box red to soft pink and cream. The poinsettia is Britain's favourite Christmas houseplant, and with Advent Sunday falling on 29 November this year, now is the moment many of us bring one home or send one to someone we love. A plant has a lot going for it as a festive gift. It arrives looking wonderful, it lasts for weeks rather than days, and with a little care it will still be glowing on Twelfth Night. Here is how to choose a good one, keep it happy, and which other Christmas plants deserve a place on the windowsill.

The story behind the Christmas star

The poinsettia is a Mexican plant, where it is known as Flor de Nochebuena, the flower of the Holy Night. The Aztecs grew it long before Christmas arrived in the Americas, and Franciscan friars in Mexico were using it in their nativity decorations by the seventeenth century. The English name honours Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who sent plants home in the 1820s. National Poinsettia Day on 12 December marks the anniversary of his death in 1851.

One small surprise: the colourful "petals" are not petals at all. They are bracts, a kind of modified leaf. The real flowers are the tiny yellow buds in the centre. Red is still the UK's best seller by a long way, but growers now offer pink, apricot, cream, white and marbled varieties too.

How to choose a healthy poinsettia

Poinsettias come from a warm climate and they really do not like the cold. The Royal Horticultural Society's advice is to buy from a heated indoor display rather than a chilly doorway or pavement stand, because a plant that has stood in the cold can drop its leaves days after you get it home. A few things to look for:

• Tight yellow buds in the centre. If the little flowers are still closed, the plant is fresh and the bracts will keep their colour for longer.
• Dense green foliage right down to the pot, with no yellowing or bare lower stems.
• Compost that is moist, not soggy. A plant sitting in water in its sleeve is heading for root rot.
• A good wrap for the journey. A frosty car or a cold walk home can undo everything, so ask for it to be wrapped, or have it delivered by hand.

This is where an independent local florist earns their keep. Their plants are kept indoors in the shop, they are wrapped properly, and because they are delivered by the florist's own van rather than a courier's depot, a poinsettia goes straight from a warm shop to a warm hallway, often the same day.

Keeping it looking its best

Poinsettia care is mostly about avoiding extremes:

• Light. Bright but out of direct midday sun.
• Warmth. A steady room temperature of roughly 16 to 21 degrees suits it. Keep it away from cold draughts, and equally away from radiators and open fires.
• Water. Only when the surface of the compost feels dry, and let any excess drain away. Too much water does far more harm than too little.
• Humidity. Central heating dries the air. Standing the pot on a saucer of damp pebbles, or misting the leaves now and then, keeps the bracts fresh.
• Pets and little ones. The poinsettia's reputation as a deadly plant is a myth that dates back more than a century, but the milky sap can irritate skin and a nibble may give a cat or dog a mild upset stomach, so it is sensible to keep it out of reach.

Treated well, a poinsettia will hold its colour through Christmas and often into February. The bracts will eventually fade and fall, which is perfectly normal, and most of us are happy to enjoy the plant for the season and start afresh next year.

Four more plants that say Christmas

If you fancy something a little different, your florist will have other seasonal plants in stock:

• Cyclamen. Dainty, swept-back flowers in white, pink and crimson over marbled leaves. It likes a cool, bright spot away from radiators and will flower for six to eight weeks. Pull out spent flowers with their stems to stop grey mould taking hold. Like the poinsettia, keep it away from pets.
• Amaryllis. Properly called hippeastrum, this bulb throws up huge trumpet flowers in red, pink, white or green just as December begins. Give it indirect light, let the compost dry out between waterings, and keep the leaves growing after the flowers fade so it can bloom again next Christmas.
• Scented hyacinths. A bowl of forced hyacinths fills a room with the smell of spring in the depths of winter. Keep them cool and the compost just moist and the scent will last longer.
• Christmas cactus. The forgiving one. A forest cactus with no spines, it tolerates a few weeks of neglect and rewards you with fuchsia-pink flowers every winter.

Our flower guide has more on seasonal blooms and what they mean, and if you would rather send a bouquet, the Christmas flowers page brings together festive bouquets, baskets and arrangements from local florists across the UK.

A gift that keeps giving

A third of us now do our Christmas gift shopping in November, and a plant is one present that is better bought early rather than late. It brightens the house for the whole of Advent and suits someone who already has everything. Add a handwritten card and have it delivered by a local florist, and you have a gift that will still be making someone smile long after the wrapping paper has gone in the recycling.

Order now

Poinsettias and Christmas plants sell quickly once the festive season gets going. Choose a florist near you and have a hand-delivered plant or festive bouquet on its way today or tomorrow.

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