Zoom in on Master Gardener’s ‘Strange Tale of the Poinsettia’

By Sequim Gazette Staff • November 30, 2022 1:30 am
Courtesy Photo Poinsettias are an elegant, cheerful burst of red and green every holiday season — but how do you keep them beautiful? Join Clallam County Master Gardener Jeanette Stehr-Green from noon-1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8, for a Green Thumb Garden Tips Zoom presentation for the know-how you need to keep poinsettias lovely all year.
Courtesy Photo Poinsettias are an elegant, cheerful burst of red and green every holiday season — but how do you keep them beautiful? Join Clallam County Master Gardener Jeanette Stehr-Green from noon-1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8, for a Green Thumb Garden Tips Zoom presentation for the know-how you need to keep poinsettias lovely all year.

Looking for some festive holiday cheer in the form of a poinsettia?

Learn more about Euphorbia pulcherrima, this elegant and familiar red and green houseplant, with “The Strange Tale of the Poinsettia: The Past, Present, and Future of a Holiday Tradition,” the next Green Thumb Garden Tips event, set for noon-1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, on Zoom.

Learn more about these houseplants and how to keep them thriving all year long — a plant whose production and sale contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year, gardening experts note.

Presenter Jeanette Stehr-Green will talk about the origin of the poinsettia, its introduction to the United States, and its transformation to the most popular holiday gift plant around the world. She will talk about the challenges in the commercial production of poinsettias, their growth requirements and what it takes to get them to bloom in time for Christmas.

She will discuss how to select a quality poinsettia for your own home or to give as a gift, how to care for a poinsettia to keep it looking beautiful through the holidays and how to get a poinsettia to bloom for subsequent holiday seasons. She will also be ready to answer questions not only about poinsettias, but all holiday gift plants.

Stehr-Green is a houseplant enthusiast and is especially fond of holiday gift plants. Through independent study, she has learned about the culture and care of poinsettias, amaryllises and Christmas cactuses. She has had hands on experience with these plants, growing many of them in her own home and experimenting with their propagation and bloom time.

Jeanette has been a WSU-certified Clallam County Master Gardener since 2003. She enjoys teaching others about gardening and writes articles for both the Sequim Gazette and the Peninsula Daily News. She also contributes to gardening programs on local radio stations KONP and KSQM. She attained the Lifetime Achievement status with Clallam County Master Gardeners in 2010 and was the 2012 Clallam County Veteran Master Gardener of the Year.

Join by computer at tinyurl.com/SEQthumbs, or join by phone at 253-215-8782 (meeting ID 920 0799 1742, passcode 709395).

Sponsored by WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners, the Green Thumbs Garden Tips education series is offered on the second and fourth Thursday each month through October (in November, December and January, one program is offered). Scheduled presentations are subject to change. Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar (extension.wsu.edu/clallam) for the latest information on upcoming presentations.

For more information, call 360-565-2679.