The reddest poinsettias win hands down.

By RAY WYCHE
Staff Writer

In nature’s competition to produce the reddest red, poinsettias win hands down.

The standard Christmas plant has bracts, or what most people call leaves, that are decked out in a red color unmatched by that of any other plant.

Sanctuaries of many churches this time of year arrange poinsettias to present a dazzling seas of red.

The plant, usually not thought of except during the Yule season, could be labeled an invasive species since it is not native to the United States; but it is a benign invader since it must be grown indoors and does not cover everything in sight like kudzu.

Bringing a poinsettia plant to the brilliant crimson that means Christmas is not an easy task.

The plant cannot survive temperatures of 40 degrees or less and is very fragile. The slightest amount of water will cause the leaves to curl up.

Their exposure to sunlight and to darkness must be closely monitored; not enough darkness will result in leaves that remain green, yet the plant must have enough sunlight to ensure growth and survival.

“They are very hard to grow. But they are very picky about conditions,” says Howard Wallace, commercial horticulture agent with the Cooperative Extension Service in Whiteville.

“They are very susceptible to sunlight,” Wallace says. When the green bracts have formed, the plants must be kept in complete darkness for 12 hours daily until the bracts have turned bright red.