Question from Jeff:
I recently bought your So Cal Organic Gardening book and like it very much. Helped me right away on winter time sweet peas, and made me feel better about poinsettias. That is, I have been trying to grow poinsettias for the past decade, bought from nurseries, promised they can “grow” outside. Yet they always die or stagnate. I assumed these new flashy poinsettias are really only good for indoors, but always the nursery said “wrong.” Well, reading your book, I’m right. Question: can you recommend an online nursery that sells poinsettias for garden, e.g., the “Hollywood” variety you mention? I had outdoor poinsettias 30 years ago, and wish to bring them back. My garden is in Pacific Palisades (next to Santa Monica) about one mile from the water.
Answer from Pat:
I am delighted to hear that you read my brief history of the poinsettia in California and you are absolutely right the kind you purchase for Christmas do not grow well outdoors. The old varieties were a total joy here and it’s sad they are so seldom found. There are even better ones than ‘Hollywood’. I suggest you ask at botanical gardens for this plant. The best way to start one is from a cutting taken in spring. I got a cutting last year but it was given to me by a garden club in January and this was the wrong time of year to plant it, not warm enough. Besides, it was already too dried out when I got it. So it doesn’t appear to be growing. If I find a source of these outdoor varieties of poinsettias I will let you know. I have heard that there are several fine poinsettia trees growing outdoors in Encinitas and that the owners are happy to give cuttings in spring but I have not yet found them. If you ever see one of these plants growing in an old neighborhood, ask for a cutting in spring and go back and get it then. Any time between March and May is a good time to start them.
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I have tried every year for as long as I can remember to continue growing my “Christmas” Poinsettias outdoor. Well, about 5 years ago I had a success, it is planted at my east facing front porch and is now about 5′ tall! I didn’t realize that you could take cuttings from it in the spring but I am more than happy to share. I live inland though… in Redlands, San Bernardino county. Nicole
Thank you so much for sharing this experience of yours. I suggest you share the cuttings with a garden club who would be glad to get them. My guess is that the poinsettia that you happened to pick up when it came up for sale at Christmas was ‘Annette Hegg’ or another similar variety. ‘Annette Hegg’ is often sold at supermarkets around Christmas. The colorful bracts surrounding the flowers are slightly smaller than on some other varieties grown for greenhouse culture and the bracts also have a darker red cast, almost black at times. This variety is considerably hardier than most of the varieties we purchase at Christmas time. There are one or two others of similar characteristics but less frequently grown.
I am totally delighted to hear that you now have a tree five feet tall. I hope you are able to keep light from hitting the plant at night so that it will bloom at Christmas. Yes, after bloom (in May) one is supposed to cut off the branches down to one or two buds and they will grow new branches. Stick the cuttings into the ground and they will grow. (If cuttings are taken earlier than April or May the soil isn’t warm enough for them to grow.) When I was in my teens and newly arrived in California in 1944 almost every house in Hollywood and in beach towns had a row of poinsettias growing next to the bare white wall of the detached garage. They bloomed magnificently from Christmas until May. Mostly they were the hardy variety called ‘Hollywood’ that Paul Ecke grew for cut flowers in Hollywood during the 1930′s.
Thanks so much for the information it was so helpful! I will try cutting when the time is right as you have suggested. Thanks again, I look forward to following the info on your site now that I have found it!
I’m glad to have a regular visitor like you! Currently my blog is Q/A format. I usually get one or two queries every day so you should be able to find fresh stuff almost daily. There is a massive amount of information there already since I’ve been doing this for well over a year. You might also enjoy my books. “Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening, Month by Month”, my latest book published last year is beloved by readers and readily obtainable. “All My Edens: A Gardener’s Memoir” is a good read. It’s out of print, but you can occasionally find it in internet searches. It’s a collectors item, usually expensive, but occasionally comes up for pennies. My Southwest book is full of photos and jam-packed with info. (Out of print also but you can find used copies at Amazon.com and other sites.) I am now writing another memoir fast as I can. I have made over 20 informational videos for this blog. (See “Videos”)Some of my videos also appear on my Granddaughter’s blog, Girls Gone Child.
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2011/02/insideoutside-child-friendly-gardening.html
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2010/07/insideoutside-make-believe-gardens-for.html
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2010/09/insideoutside-child-friendly-organic.html
Enjoy!
I Am happy to reply. I live in Camarillo CA and planted my last year’s poinsettia last March. Yes, it is a great success. It is about two feet across and about 18′ high. All top layer leaves are red and I intend to plant the one I bought year in March as well.
I’m glad you had success with growing poinsettias outdoors. It would be of interest for you to mark on your calendar the date that the bracts turned red. Since this is determined by day length, though cool temperatures also help, it should be the same from year to year. It is possible to force “bloom” earlier by keeping the plant dark for 14 hours nightly beginning on October 1. (My organic book gives directions for this on page 350.) Outdoors, poinsettias are dependent on natural light in order for bracts to turn red. Any light that reaches them during the natural hours of darkness during winter can upset the process.
Eighteen inches is a good height for a garden plant, but old-fashioned tall varieties that were not developed for forcing in range houses are closer to the natural wild type from Mexico. These will grow as tall as small trees and bloom around Christmas until March. Occasionally one sees these poinsettia trees in old neighborhoods and I wish we had more of them as we did back in the 1940′s and earlier.