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| Photo Credit: Paul Ecke Ranch |
| ‘Plum Pudding’ is the first true-purple poinsettia on the market. |
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…when holiday decorations fill the stores and festive carols play throughout the mall and supermarket. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! One of the most beautiful icons of this festive season is the poinsettia.
Originally, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) only had a red flower, but thanks to over a century of breeding later, we can now spot this holiday favorite in other fabulous colors and types. The most prominent color – and my personal favorite – is still the red poinsettia, of course. Only now there are many varieties of red to choose from. The industry standard is a variety called Freedom Red™. This has been America’s top-selling brand for almost a decade. It has large showy bracts (the modified leaves at the base of the flowers) and holds up well indoors. For some red variation, try Freedom™ Jingle Bells, which has red bracts with classy white flecks in them; ‘Winter Rose’, which has incurved bracts that make them resemble roses (my favorite); or ‘Holly Point’, which has red flower bracts and variegated leaves to showcase them. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Paul Ecke Ranch | | ‘Marblestar’ breaks from red-poinsettia tradition. |
Trying to limit your red intake for the season? Then try another color palette. ‘Marblestar’ is a salmon-pink/white bicolor variety, and ‘Plum Pudding’ is the first true-purple poinsettia on the market. Other poinsettia colors to excite your decorating whimsy are white, pink, burgundy, mauve and lilac.
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