America's most popular Christmas flower — the beautiful poinsettia — is now appearing everywhere, adding a festive air to any setting.
During a recent visit with Rob Larkin, owner/manager of the Rose Shop, I noticed one of his greenhouses in Sandy was awash with a variety of colors from the poinsettias he has tended for the past several months.
Larkin, whose family owns Larkin Mortuary, grew up in Sugar House and attended LDS Business College before moving to California to get his degree in mortuary science. In addition to the family business, Larkin has a keen interest in plants — an interest that has melded well with the mortuary business.
"I first got involved with (plants) working for Lorraine Miller at what was then Cactus Growers of Utah (later Cactus and Tropicals)," he said. "I would help her unload trucks and do other work in exchange for plants. Plants became a real interest, and I helped her build her first greenhouse."
About 10 years ago, the funeral business bought the Rose Shop and kept it as a full-service florist. Eventually, the mortuary expanded the operation, adding a nursery called Le Jardin (the garden), at the Rose Shop. The greenhouses are a natural addition to the business. While Larkin grows plants for a few select wholesalers and on contract, most are sold through the Rose Shop outlets in Sandy and Salt Lake City.
Larkin begins growing poinsettias around the Fourth of July. He puts three cuttings in an 8-inch pot or two in a 6 1/2-inch pot. They are then placed on benches so the pots touch.
"Putting the plants close together helps to keep the humidity levels even," Larkin said, "and we also mist them for five to seven days to encourage them to root well. Once they are well rooted, we then pinch them back to five to seven nodes or about 3 inches high. We do this about six weeks after we plant them or about Aug. 10," he said.
The pinching produces well-branched plants that produce more stems. Poinsettias are a little different than other plants, because the highly colored part we think are flowers are really colored leaves or bracts.
To get the maximum number of these, you need to encourage the growth of many terminal stems.
Keeping the plants healthy is also a concern. "We drench the cuttings when we plant them and treat with other fungicides as needed to control pythium and botrytis," Larkin said. "We also use a systemic insecticide called Marathon to control whiteflies and other pests."
Fertilizer is applied each time the plants are watered. "At first we are trying to get the plants to grow quickly," Larkin said, "and then we switch to a high calcium feed in order to make the stems stronger. Otherwise, the stems break when we handle them and put them in sleeves."
Perhaps the most often asked question about poinsettias is how to get the bracts to change color. The bracts will change color as the days get shorter. Many growers force the color change by denying the plants light by covering them. But according to Larkin, the new hybrids are so good that there's no need to cover them to get the color change.
However, Larkin said that any light will keep the plants from blooming — so he has to make certain all the lights in the building, parking lot and and anywhere else are off when the sun goes down. If poinsettias get any light at night — even for a short time — the bracts won't change color.
Once you've brought your poinsettia home, Larkin offers these tips:
"Poinsettias need good, bright, indirect light. They need temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees and prefer that the temperatures do not fluctuate too much. Don't let them wilt and dry out. If your plant wilts and dries out, it may survive, but it never will look good again."
If the plants sit in water, they will also develop root rot, and that will kill the plants. Water them as needed, but never let them sit in water.
And what about poinsettias being poisonous? "There have been extensive studies that show they are not, so that is not a concern" Larkin said. "Nevertheless, it is not recommended that you let children or pets eat plants that are not food."
With many millions of these plants grown in this country each year, chances are one will be yours. Give them the right care and they will last for months. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without them.
Larry Sagers is the horticulture specialist, Utah State University Extension, Thanksgiving Point.