Landworks Landscaping Company Has Tips To Have The Healthiest Poinsettias This Holiday Season
Landworks Landscaping Company has lots of tips and care advice for the flowers synonymous with the holidays – poinsettias. Though they’re usually the classic red color, they can also be white, pink, and even multicolored. Poinsettias can last past the holidays with the advice from Landworks Landscaping Company.
How do you take care of poinsettias? Carefully. These finicky short-day plants require specific growing needs in order to retain their Christmas blooms. However, with proper care, your holiday poinsettia should continue to put out blooms, or in the least remain attractive for weeks after.
When shopping for a poinsettia, choose a stocky plant with dense foliage that’s deep green in color, and pass on plants with yellowing or dropped leaves. The colorful flowers, called bracts, should be firm with little or no pollen visible in the center.
Poinsettia care begins with proper light, water, and temperature conditions. During the holidays, while in full bloom, they typically enjoy semi-cool, humid locations in bright, indirect light with plenty of moisture. Adding plants nearby can help increase humidity levels in dry rooms, as will humidifiers. Once flower bracts have fallen, you have the option of discarding the plant or keeping it an additional year. Landworks Landscaping Company offers lawn care services year-round and can advise on plants that can be regrown each season.
A southern window is ideal. If a sunny window isn’t available, choose as bright a spot as possible. Poinsettias are tropical plants typically grown in greenhouses, so despite their popularity in winter, they despise the cold. Any leaves that press against an icy window after you position the plant in your home will perish, and the chill could even affect the health of the poinsettia as a whole. Prevent an untimely demise by setting your poinsettia safely on a table in front of a window rather than on a windowsill.
In order for the flowers to last more than a month, poinsettias require more than 12 hours of darkness during their peak bloom period. If you’ve placed the plant in a room that you keep lit all evening, just move it to a darker room, closet, or shadowy corner when the sun sets, then put it back in the window the next morning. The tender leaves and bracts wilt in windy conditions, so keep your plant away from open windows, forced-air registers, and fans.
Poinsettias should be watered whenever the soil surface feels dry to the touch. The best way to water the plant is to move it, pot and all, to the sink and soak it thoroughly. Let it drain until no more water runs out — this will take about an hour — and then place it back in its spot.
One thing pretty much everyone knows about poinsettia care is the importance of keeping poinsettias out of the reach of furry members of the family. While scare stories link the plants to pet poisoning, the milky sap of the poinsettia actually contains low-toxicity chemicals that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, and itchiness if a pet eats a large amount. Even though the risk is pretty low, don’t chance it. Keep your plant away from pets. The pesticides used at garden centers and nurseries could cause reactions if your pet ingests poinsettia leaves, especially if you have a very young animal.
With these tips from Landworks Landscaping Company, you’re all set to buy your poinsettia (they can be found at nurseries, home improvement stores, grocery stores, and more) or multiple poinsettias, decorate your home for the holidays, and enjoy your plants!
For information about landscaping, lawn care services, and more offered from Landworks Landscaping Company, call (913) 422-9300. To request a quote, click here.