BC Living
Recipe: B.C. Beef and Potatoes
You’ve Gotta Try This in February 2025
Recipe: How to Make Pie Crust from Scratch
Attention, Runners: Here are 19 Road Races Happening in B.C. in Spring 2025
Nature’s Pharmacy: 8 Herbal Boutiques in BC
How Barre Enhances Your Flexibility
Inviting the Steller’s Jay to Your Garden
6 Budget-friendly Holiday Decor Pieces
Dream Home: $8 Million for a Modern Surprise
Local Getaway: Hideaway at a Mystical Earth House in Kootenay
9 BC Wellness Hotels to Relax and Recharge in This Year
Local Getaway: Enjoy Waterfront Views at a Ucluelet Beach House
B.C. Adventures: Things to Do in February
5 Beautiful and Educational Nature and Wildlife Tours in BC
7 Beauty and Wellness Influencers to Follow in BC
11 Gifts for Galentine’s Day from B.C. Companies
14 Cute Valentine’s Day Gifts to Give in 2025
8 Gifts to Give for Lunar New Year 2025
These poinsettias are growing in the courtyard of Belles Artes in San Miguel de Allende. It is, of course, a flower long associated with the holiday season. Its botanical name is Euphorbia pulcherrima, and it is indeed native to the tropical highlands of Mexico.
The ancient Aztec name for the plant was cuetlaxochitl; they used the bracts to make a purplish dye for textiles, and the milky sap was made into a preparation to treat fevers.
Joel Robert Poinsett was the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, 1825–1829. He was an avid botanist and introduced the plant into his own greenhouses in Greenville, South Carolina, when he returned to the States. The fact that it was a plant that flowered naturally during the shorter days of winter coinciding with Christmas caused much interest. And the common name poinsettia evolved.
Today, of course, it is a produced widely by greenhouse growers throughout North America.
To keep your poinsettia happy in your home for the next few weeks, keep it on the moist side allowing it to almost dry out between waterings. But be warned: If it totally dries out and wilts, it will recover but lower leaves will soon yellow and start dropping. The best way to tell if it is dry is to touch the top of the soil with your finger. Or lift the pot; if it feels light, then it needs a drink. Try to keep it near a window, and if possible in a cooler room at night.