Poinsettia’s at Franklin Park Conservatory

 
Thursday and Friday my daughter and I were
running around taking in some Christmas events.
After a little more decorating indoors this morning
I am taking the rest of the day, other than cooking,
watching the snow storm come in and catching up
with my blogging friends.

  Thursday while in Columbus we stopped by the
Franklin Park Conservatory to look at their Holiday
displays for “Merry & Bright”.
While outside different pines were decorated with
white mini lights,the  inside of the conservatory was
filled with holiday colors and touches.
Poinsettia’s were everywhere and we especially loved
this Poinsettia tree.

The mostly common poinsettia of red were prominent
through the conservatory and lit up all of the green
foliage in different areas.

 

Beyond the main entrance the Poinsettia tree greeted
us and  assorted colors and combinations filled the beds
of displays.

There were rows of this red with white marbled Jingle Bells variety of Poinsettia.

The white Poinsettia’s mixed with the red and
and the marbled was lovely.

 

An important note or disclaimer about……
The old wives' tale that poinsettias are poisonous is
simply not true. The Society of American Florists and
Ohio State University conducted a scientific investigation disproving the charge. In fact, The Poisindex Information Service states that over 500 leaves ingested by a 50-pound child would demonstrate no toxicity. Of course, like all ornamental plants, the poinsettia is not intended for
human or pet consumption.

Also clustered plantings of pink and white marbled
were added to the mixture.

The pink and white Marbled variety was very pretty
in this big setting but I had a pink Poinsettia
last year and it just clashed with my Christmas
decor. In some of the homes that have whites
as their main theme these would be just the
right Poinsettia for them.

The Monet variety of Poinsettia below was one I had
never saw before. It reminded me of tie dyed colors. LOL!
Or maybe it is just the era I came from that reminded
me of it.
The colors faded from reds, to pinks, and creams.

A Legend of Poinsettias

A charming story is told of Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve services. As Pepita walked sorrowfully to church, her cousin Pedro tried to console her. "Pepita," he said, "I am certain that even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes." Pepita gathered a bouquet of common weeds from the roadside, for this was the only gift she could give. As she entered the chapel and approached the alter, her spirits lifted. Forgetting the humbleness of her gift, the girl laid the weeds at the feet of the Christ Child. Suddenly, Pepita's ordinary weeds burst into brilliant red blooms! This miraculous event was named the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night. Today, we call these flowers poinsettias.

 

A white garden cart displayed them for those
who wanted to buy them at the gift shop in
the conservatory.

The ones I liked the best were the red Winter Rose
variety. I loved the ruffled cluster of double red brats
on the green plants.

The Real History of Poinsettia’s
The plant we know today as the poinsettia has a long and interesting history. The fact is, that lovely plant you place in your home during the holidays was once used as a fever medicine!

Native to Central America, the plant flourished in an area of Southern Mexico known as Taxco del Alarcon. The ancient Aztecs had a name for this plant found blooming in the tropical highlands during the short days of winter:cuetlaxochitl. Not merely decorative, the Aztecs put the plant to practical use. From its bracts they extracted a purplish dye for use in textiles and cosmetics. The milky white sap, today called latex, was made into a preparation to treat fevers.

The poinsettia may have remained a regional plant for many years to come had it not been for the efforts of Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779 - 1851). The son of a French physician, Poinsett was appointed as the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (1825 - 1829) by President Madison. Poinsett had attended medical school himself, but his real love in the scientific field was botany. (Mr. Poinsett later founded the institution which we know today as the Smithsonian Institution).

Poinsett maintained his own hothouses on his Greenville, South Carolina plantations, and while visiting the Taxco area in 1828, he became enchanted by the brilliant red blooms he saw there. He immediately sent some of the plants back to South Carolina, where he began propagating the plants and sending them to friends and botanical gardens.

I will be showing more blooms  from the “ Merry & Bright “ Holiday displays at the Franklin Park Conservatory in
the coming days.
Everyone have a wonderful weekend and……….
Happy Gardening,
Lona