tel: 512 280-1192                                         thursday, dec 11, 2014

Nursery Notes: if you're trying to think of gifts for the gardener 
(or cook) in the family, we strongly recommend a visit to our gift
shop. 20% off Talavera pottery; gardening gloves: $6.99 - $29.99;
50% off select items, including garden stakes, spinners and gazing
balls; we also have exotic salt (Himilayan pink and Hawaiian black),
special peppers and bulk herbs. Mineral bath salts, soaps and hand
cream are also available. Living Christmas trees, poinsettias, rose-
mary wreaths and Christmas trees, and ivy Christmas trees (on a
topiary frame) also in stock. 
 
 
All across the city people seem to be having fun putting decorations on their yuccas. You can
just turn the ornaments upside down, and pop over the needle-end of the leaf.
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Christmas wreaths: one of the wonderful things about the holiday
season is bringing branches and grasses and trees indoors. If you're
not feeling the holiday spirit that much, then maybe making a wreath
will put you in the mood. Martha Stewart offers you 34 different
options, with detailed instructions for each. Martha
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 Central Texas Gardener:   Mingle herbs for food, wildlife flowers
and what ails you into your waterwise scheme. Visit a gardener who
removed grass for a menu that serves up art, food, and wildlife.   
 Sat., 4 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. www.klru    
             
 
 Joel Roberts Poinsett (inset) the first US ambassador to Mexico, brought the plants back to
his  home in South Carolina in 1828.
Poinsettias, the Christmas Plant
by Chris Winslow

'Tis the season. . .  for the poinsettias to shoot to number one in the
potted plant charts. In this country alone in 2013 we spent $144
million on these beauties, and so it's not too surprising that we see
them pretty much everywhere this month.

The poinsettia is native to southern Mexico and Central America,
and was used by ancient Aztecs as a medicine to reduce fevers. For
this they used the milky white sap from its stems, and also extracted
a purplish dye from the flowering bracts.

Known as nochebuena in Mexico, this fall-flowering ornamental would
probably have remained in the jungle if it wasn’t for Joel Roberts
Poinsett (1770 – 1851), the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

An amateur botanist, Poinsett brought this lovely plant (Euphorbia
pulcherrima) back to his home in South Carolina in 1828. Here he
began propagating the “poinsettia” and sending it to his friends and
colleagues throughout the country.
 
The poinsettia’s leaves and stems grow during the summer months,
and begins to bloom as the days shorten in the fall. The flowering
part of the poinsettia consists of bracts and cyanthia. The bracts are
the large colored leaves which surround the cyanthia or flowers.

In the native plant, the bracts and flowers are very small. With the
modern poinsettia, thanks to hybridization, the colorful leaves have
become much larger and you have a multitude of colors to choose
from.

We now have varieties with names like angelica, jingle belles,
celebrate, V-14 glory, freedom, and subjibe. While the most popular
color for the Christmas season is red, you can also buy pink, salmon,
white and bicolor plants.
 
The poinsettia is pretty easy to care for. It likes to be placed in a well
lit location and watered when it is dry.

 If it has a decorative wrap around the pot, remove it when watering,
making sure the plant gets adequate drainage.

If you leave its roots standing in water, the plant will perish. Ideal
temperatures are 70 degrees during the day and a slightly cooler night.
Too hot a temperature will shorten its bloom time.

In the springtime, poinsettias can be grown as a potted plant or they
can be planted outside in a very protected, sunny location. With any
luck and a very late cold spell next fall, you might get a few blooms.
Happy gardening everyone!
   
  Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com
 Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748  Like us
 
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