Big, bright and beautiful at the Oak Park Conservatory, 615 Garfield St., this holiday season is their huge poinsettia “tree,” with all the botanical trimmings. This towering profusion of fragrance-free annual color, says Patti Staley, the conservatory’s head grower, was a labor of love.
“Right after the 4th of July, it’s Christmastime around here, because we get in 500 Poinsettia plugs, and our [Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory] volunteers plant all of them in pots within a few days,” she said. “I’m a fan of the Poinsettia because when everything outside has gone dormant, the Poinsettia brings cheerful, bright beauty to wherever you have them. How can anyone not love that color at this time of year?”
Staley said there are more than 100 varieties of Poinsettias, in hues ranging from the traditional red and white, to pink, burgundy, marbled and speckled.
At the conservatory, she is growing six different plants, a few traditional varieties, and some standouts, said manager Scott Stewart.
While usually thought of as holiday indoor pick-me-up, Stewart said Poinsettias can be grown year-round, although in colder climates that can be tricky. They are tropical plants, being a distant relative of the Poinsettia shrubs that grow up to 16 feet tall in the jungles of Mexico.
“No matter where you buy your Poinsettia, make sure that it has some kind of bag or sleeve over it, one that that covers the plant, so when you go to take that plant out of the store and to your car, it is protected,” he said. “The first blast of cold air that hits it will cause the leaves to wither.”
Even indoors, he said, you have to protect the plants from being exposed to cold and hot drafts.
“They also don’t like to be really wet, so if you are one of the people who tend to forget to water plants, this might be the plant for you because they do like it on the dry side, not meaning that they don’t need any water at all though,” Staley cautioned.