Poinsettia growers are hoping a promotional campaign co-funded by the industry and the EU will see their blaze of festive colour give the holly and the ivy a run for its money this Christmas.
The distinctive winter plant will be much in evidence at supermarkets and stores across the country, as well as in garden centres and florists.
Find out all about it by visiting the ‘Christmas Star’ website,
here.
Poinsettias were first bred in Europe in the 1950s as houseplants. Requiring shorter days to bloom and attain their colour, quickly became associated with winter, Christmas and Christmas decoration.
In their native Mexico they’re known as Flores de Noche Buena – ‘the flower of Christmas Eve’. Meanwhile, the French know them as Étoile d'amour, the ‘love star’ and, according to legend, the Aztecs took a similar line, believing the poinsettia were moistened with drops of blood from an Aztec goddess who died of a broken heart.
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