Exotic flowersIt happened in Los Angeles inChristmas Eve 1906. Gardener Paul Ecke had the idea to sell the cut branches of the poinsettias he had grown. It was clear that only a special public could buy the beautiful exotic flowers, so Ecke put them up for sale not just anywhere, but in the shop windows of Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The original plants aroused great interest among wealthy residents of the city. It was from there that the new name of the bush spread throughout the world - "Christmas star". In fact, this unusual plant was especially lucky with names and legends. In Central America - in its homeland, where the bush grows up to three meters in height, the natives called it cuetlaxochitle and it was the favorite plant of the leader Montezuma. Local residents treated fevers with its milky juice, made dyes for faces and fabrics from the leaves and composed legends about its origin. According to Aztec legend, unhappy love broke the heart of their goddess. And from a drop of blood that fell to the ground, a bush grew, which in mid-December suddenly, like stars, blooms with purple leaves at the top. These are leaves, not flowers, because poinsettia flowers are quite small and inconspicuous, and the so-called bracts - modified bracts - blaze. With the arrival of Europeans on the continent, the plant became a symbol of another faith. Already in the 17th century, Franciscan monks who settled in the territory of modern Mexico began to decorate churches with purple poinsettia leaves at Christmas, and soon this tradition spread throughout the country. Devout Spanish colonists composed their own Christmas story about the origin of the poinsettia. One poor girl and her cousin had nothing to bring to the temple to decorate the altar. Then the children decided to pick at least branches of a roadside bush. It was a modest, inconspicuous bouquet, but when the girl lovingly placed it at the feet of the infant Christ, it suddenly blossomed. Since then, the plant has been called "Flowers of the Holy Night".
And in Europe with this bush from the bigThe family of spurges (three hundred varieties, five thousand species) became acquainted somewhat later. They say that one winter, Karl Ludwig Vilenow, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, saw bright red leaves of a plant peeking out from a crack in the greenhouse, a plant brought to him in 1800 by a collector from a trip to Central America. He was so amazed by their unexpected beauty that he named the bush Euphorbia pulcherrima - the most beautiful euphorbia, or the most beautiful of the spurges. Under this name, it is still present in all botanical reference books. However, the Anglo-Saxon name became more widespread: Poinsettia - poinsettia. It was given in honor of the plant collector, American senator and first ambassador to Mexico Joel Roberto Poinsett. He did not limit himself to a diplomatic mission in this country, he was also interested in its flora. He sent especially curious specimens to his plantations in South Carolina. This also happened to the plant that was later named after him. He then bred the bushes that bloomed in winter in his greenhouse and sent them to other collectors. Meanwhile, exclusively red plants are a thing of the past. Many varieties with a wide variety of colors have long been bred. You can buy poinsettias with bracts of white, yellow, pink, purple, and even several shades and colors. At one time, there was a debate about the harm of the Mexican milkweed, whose sticky white juice contains poisonous substances and can lead to allergic reactions. But in 1970, a safe plant was bred. And the growth of sales of the Christmas star increased.
The red stars of poinsettias have been around for a while nowhave become popular with us too. But when we buy them, we expect not only to decorate the Christmas or New Year holiday, but also for its long life as a houseplant. And in the literature devoted to poinsettia, we have a detailed description of how not only to preserve the plant in the spring and summer, but also to make it bloom the following winter. To do this, it is suggested to trim the branches in the spring (up to 15 cm, leaving 3-5 strong buds), transplant into nutritious loose soil and place in a dimly lit open place (in summer you can put it on the balcony or in the garden, but not in direct sunlight). And starting in September, for ten weeks, place the poinsettia in complete darkness for 14 hours, since this is a short-day plant and blooms only with ten hours of daylight. But even those who go for such an experiment and get the result - a re-blooming bush, are usually somewhat disappointed. The thing is that in nature, poinsettia is not very decorative for most of the year - it has straight, bare branches. In greenhouses, when growing it for sale, specialists use growth inhibitors, producing proportionate, beautiful plants. It is quite difficult to achieve this at home. And that is why no one usually saves Christmas stars anywhere in the world. In our country, after celebrating the New Year, garbage containers are often filled with cut down Christmas trees, and abroad - with pots with dried poinsettias. And there is no need to be upset. You just need to try to change your attitude to this plant. Like a star, whose life is short. It burns brightly and quickly goes out. But next year, another star will definitely light up. This plant, of course, owes its incredible popularity in the world to this very gardener and, undoubtedly, a brilliant marketer - Paul Ecke, who turned the cultivation and sale of poinsettias into his permanent business. And today, almost a century later, the Ecke clan plays a leading role in the Christmas star trade. Almost 80 percent of all poinsettias grown in the world come directly or indirectly from Encinitas, where the founding father moved the company's headquarters in 1923. And he began selling the plants in pots, not as cut flowers (in this form they quickly wither). Until now, the flower trade (with the exception of Dutch tulips) has brought no one such profit. In just two months, the company grows, packs, exports and imports, and then sells almost two hundred million flowers. Thousands of Americans come to Encinitas on December 12, as this day has become a poinsettia holiday in the United States. Below you will find photos
