New varieties keep California poinsettia industry in bloom

Premium Picasso, Monet Twilight, Shimmer and Surprise – the names hardly sound like Santa, Frosty and Rudolph. But they're as much a part of the Christmas celebration as mistletoe and the Douglas fir.

Poinsettias – a California holiday staple for generations – have come a long way in recent years as hybridizers have developed exotic variations of the familiar flower.

National Poinsettia Day on Sunday honors the man who first brought this Aztec favorite to the attention of U.S. gardeners. Today, poinsettias are the No. 1 potted plant in America, with about 60 million sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The plants in stores aren't your grandma's poinsettias. They're the result of state-of-the-art hybridizing and research, both in California and Europe.

"Where's the pop? That's what we're looking for in poinsettias," said Doug Brothers of Rocket Farms in Salinas, which will send thousands of poinsettias to Sacramento-area supermarkets. "We want the hottest and the best we can find."

About 70 percent of the potted poinsettias in the United States and half of them worldwide got their start at Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, just north of San Diego. Starting in the 1920s with a Mexican native plant that grows wild along Southern California's coastline, the Eckes developed more than 100 new varieties.

Although it has moved much of its propagation to Guatemalan greenhouses to cut costs, the family-owned company still breeds its poinsettias in California, the No. 1 poinsettia state.

Unlike roses and other florist flowers, which are primarily produced in South America and shipped to the United States, the poinsettias sold in Sacramento stores are all California-grown. Because flowering poinsettias can't withstand shipping for more than two or three days, most are still grown from cuttings close to their destination.

And California's cool summer and mild fall of 2010 produced perfect growing conditions.

"This year, we have phenomenal quality," Brothers said. "Consumers will enjoy really healthy plants. They should last to January, easily, and probably a lot longer."

A major poinsettia grower for 25 years, Rocket Farms devotes about 3.5 million square feet of greenhouse space to the holiday crop.

Beginning in February, the grower starts with "mother plants" from Ecke and European hybridizers Syngenta in the Netherlands, and Selecta and Dummen in Germany. Repeated cuttings from those original plants spawn 1.35 million potted poinsettias (with three or more rooted cuttings per pot) that Rocket Farms will sell during a six-week season. About 450 workers hand-pinch the cuttings to produce the solid canopy of color in every pot.

Prestige Red – one of many poinsettias patented by Ecke – ranks among the best-selling hybrids. In recent years, those traditional reds have been joined by an array of eye-catching variations.

Trade names such as Crazy Christmas, Strawberries 'n' Cream and the artist-inspired Picasso and Monet series convey those splashy combinations of green, yellow, white, orange, pink, maroon and crimson. Some have a marbled look while others appear to have been hand-painted.

"We always order the marbles because we can't help ourselves," said Jeannie Ross of Bushnell Gardens in Granite Bay. "They're so pretty."

But when it comes to buying, red still reigns supreme.

In a sign that consumers feel a little more confident this holiday season, poinsettia sales have been strong.

"We're doing really well with poinsettias this year," Ross said. "We usually order too many. Because of the economy, we ordered less than last year, but we blew through our first batch in no time."

Those early poinsettias arrived before Thanksgiving, in time for holiday hostess gifts. A second order of poinsettias arrived Dec. 3 and also is selling briskly.

"We ordered 80 percent red, 10 percent marble and 10 percent white," Ross said. "But we mostly have marble and white left – people are buying the red."

Growers also have seen orders spike since Thanksgiving. The recession dropped poinsettia sales about 20 percent two years ago, so growers cut production.

"We started out a little slower than last year," said Rocket Farms' Brothers. "But after Thanksgiving, everything doubled, then tripled, then boom! It was a major, major change. Now everybody is ordering like crazy. Consumers are buying poinsettias again."

Rocket Farms supplies several major California chains, including Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco, Safeway, Albertsons and Save Mart.

"The different colors (and combinations) sell better before Thanksgiving," Brothers said. "As we get closer to Christmas, the market shifts to almost 100 percent red or red tones. People got to have that traditional red."

But even that shade of red is changing.

"Instead of the usual bright red, people are gravitating toward deeper reds," Brothers said. "It's really a maroon. Or they want a softer orange-red; a little different, but still red."

In addition, the Salinas grower supplies poinsettias to eight certified farmers markets and scores of nonprofit groups such as churches, youth football teams and school boosters that use poinsettia sales as annual fundraisers.

"Some of these groups sell 3,000 plants," Brothers noted. "That's amazing to me."

Why are poinsettias so popular?

"Tradition!" said Ron Wolford, a University of Illinois horticulturist and author of the online Poinsettia Pages. "Plus the fact that Christmas is associated with the color red. Even though poinsettias come in a variety of colors, red is still the most popular color choice."

Apparently that choice is being made by women, who account for an estimated 80 percent of the market.

Wolford developed his popular Poinsettia Pages 15 years ago because his Chicago office received so many queries each Christmas about the plant.

The most common question?

"No. 1 by far, people want to know how to get it to rebloom next year," Wolford said. "It's not easy. The plants need absolute darkness. It's fun to do, maybe once. But it's so much easier to go buy a new one."

HOW TO KEEP YOUR POINSETTIA ALIVE

You've brought home one of those irresistible potted poinsettias or received one as a gift. How do you keep it beautiful through the holidays?

Today's poinsettias can last longer than ever, often for months. To help yours stay pretty, follow this advice from Ron Wolford, creator of the Poinsettia Pages:

• Place your poinsettia in indirect light after bringing it home. Poinsettias need six hours of light daily (fluorescent light will work).

• Keep your plant away from cold windows, warm or cold drafts from furnaces or air conditioners, and open doors and windows.

• Poinsettias do best at daytime temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees. Higher temperatures will shorten the plant's life.

• Check the soil daily. Punch holes in the pot's foil cover so water can drain into a saucer. Water the plant when the soil is dry. Allow water to drain into the saucer and discard excess. Wilted plants will tend to drop bracts sooner.

• Don't fertilize poinsettias while in bloom. If kept past the holiday season, apply a houseplant fertilizer once a month.

• New varieties of poinsettias last longer. It's not uncommon for poinsettias to retain their bracts for several months.

For more tips, go to: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/ poinsettia/index.cfm

– Debbie Arrington

INSIDE With care and patience, you can encourage a poinsettia to rebloom.

KEY POINTERS ON POINSETTIAS

• The poinsettia, a tropical shrub, grows natively in Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs called it cuetlaxochitl or "star flower." The red petals – actually bracts or modified leaves – were used for dye. The plant also was used medicinally.

• Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, is credited with introducing the plant to this country in 1828. He raised the plants in his South Carolina greenhouse and gave them to friends. National Poinsettia Day is celebrated Dec. 12, the anniversary of Poinsett's death.

• The red or otherwise colored bracts frame the plant's actual flowers, which appear as yellow clusters at the center of the bracts. The plant drops its bracts and leaves soon after those flowers shed their pollen. For the longest-lasting poinsettias, choose plants with little or no yellow pollen showing.

• Contrary to popular belief, poinsettias are not poisonous to humans or pets.

• Poinsettias are not frost- tolerant. They will grow outdoors in temperate coastal climates, such as Southern California beach communities. In the ground, they can reach 10 feet tall.

• Paul Ecke Ranch (www.ecke.com) in San Diego County is the world's leading poinsettia hybridizer.

WANT A REBLOOM NEXT YEAR?

Poinsettias need at least 14 hours of complete darkness each night for six to 10 weeks to trigger bloom. If you manage to keep your potted poinsettia alive until next fall, you can trick it into bloom. Every night, place a lightproof bag over the plant or put it in a closet to force the bloom in time for Christmas.

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