Are you up for the Green Thumb Red Blossom challenge???  (It's not really a thing and I just sorta made it up but it has "roots" in reality.)  I'm talking about trying to keep that favorite of Christmas plants, the Poinsettia, alive and well into the new year and maybe even until next Christmas.

My daughter's school sells poinsettias as a fundraiser every Christmas season so I have loaded and unloaded my fair share of the ruby red beauties. (Thanks to all who have purchased now and in the past) As a result, I have to say I don't really care if the croak after Christmas...BUT...I know some of you "plant-people" may, so here is what I could scare up on how to prolong the poinsettia, how to promulgate the plant, how to abuse alliteration.

Let the Green Thumb Red Blossom challenge begin!!!

Fox News reports the experts say the key points to poinsettia proliferation include monitoring sunlight, temperature, watering, and trimming.

Poinsettias prefer medium to bright indirect light

A windowsill provides the most amount of daylight possible

Keep your poinsettia plant away from hot and cold drafts

Native to Mexico and Central America, the plants prefer temperatures 65 to 75 degrees

Poinsettia plants like soil to be moist to the touch so 1 to 2 cups of water each week

In the spring, you should remove dead and crispy poinsettias leaves

At some point consider a larger and roomier container

Finally, if you have accepted the Green Thumb Red Blossom challenge, you can take comfort knowing that advancements in horticulture and breeding have produced poinsettias that are much hardier than plants of the past.  My wife has one still going strong from last year!  Yea?

Here's one more resource for you...HERE...check back in a year and tell me how you did!

CHECK THEM OUT: 100 years of Christmas toys, gifts and fads

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