This past week I’ve been experimenting with cut Poinsettias. I’ve had really good luck with them, in fact they are outlasting the roses in the flower arrangements!
Here’s one of the arrangements I designed –
I cut the poinsettias stems from the plant and placed them in a glass vase with fresh water, no flower food or anything else. I let stems drain the milky sap in the vase. Once they were done I placed the stems in the arrangement, I did not re-cut the stems!! The arrangement is on day 6 and the poinsettias are still going strong, it’s the sahara roses that are doing down!
I posted the pictures on Instagram and Facebook and a handful of people asked how to keep them alive. It got me to thinking and I talked to my friend Patty, of Brittany Flowers, why do designers struggle with keeping cut poinsettias alive? We came up with a very good question — how many people are making an arrangement with the poinsettias and then sticking the finished piece in the cooler?! Because right there is the problem — the cooler!!
Poinsettias are native to Mexico, they like it hot! It’s easy to forget what they like considering we see them at Christmas time and associate them with winter time. When a poinsettia plant is purchased from a store and carried to a car it should be covered with a bag to protect it from cold temperatures. The same goes for a cut stem, it needs to be protected from the cold — which means no coolers.
So there you have it, our theory on what kills the cut poinsettia.
We’d love to hear anyone else’s advice for designing with cut poinsettias!!
