Red leaves are ready; Poinsettia sale time again
'Tis poinsettia season at Texas Tech. In the coming weeks the school's Horticulture Society students will be selling the red holiday Christmas plants. The cost of the poinsettias, which are about 18-inches tall, is $15 each.
Proceeds from the sales benefit the society, officials said. The traditional red holiday plants are available for pick-up starting Dec. 1 at the Department of Plant and Soil Science's greenhouse complex located on the corner of Main and Hartford, just north of the United Spirit Arena.
E-Mail Orders. Campus delivery is available by prior arrangement for orders of five or more. E-mail orders can be made at ttupoinsettia@yahoo.com and an order confirmation will be returned. Officials indicate that all orders must be received by Dec. 4 at 5:00 pm.
According to the Society of American Florists, more people buy floral gifts for others and themselves at Christmas than any other time of the year. More than 80 percent of flowering plants purchased now are poinsettias, primarily the traditional red variety.
First Cultivation. The Aztecs in Mexico first cultivated the flowering native evergreen shrub as a symbol of purity and for its reddish purple dye and medicinal latex. But it wasn't until the 17th century that poinsettias started to be associated with Christmas.
In 1825, Joel Robert Poinsett - botanist, first American ambassador to Mexico and the poinsettia's namesake - introduced the shrub to the United States. It took another century before they started to be sold as potted plants in the U.S. and Canada during the holiday season. Today, poinsettias come in more than 100 varieties, with many shapes and sizes.
Written by Sean Cleveland
CONTACT: Thayne Montague, Associate Professor of Horticulture with joint appointment with Texas AgriLife Research, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-3012 or thayne.montague@ttu.edu
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