Christmas flowers will add holiday cheer to your home!

Fresh flower arrangements are always beautiful and add so much ambience to your home regardless of the season, but flowers at Christmas really add that extra touch that says “Merry Christmas!” to all who enter.

There are several beautiful types of flowers that are considered traditional for Christmas.

One of these is the poinsettia.

Poinsettias have long been one of the best loved fresh flowers for the yuletide holidays. A deep red color is the norm, but variations of color have been developed through the years, and now poinsettias can be found in other shades as well.

The poinsettia is indigenous to Mexico and Guatemala, and has a rather interesting story associated with it.

The poinsettia’s association with the Christmas holidays is said to have begun during the 16^th century in Mexico, when a young girl who was too poor to provide a gift to Jesus was told by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside, and place them at the altar. From those roadside weeds, legend has it that crimson blossoms appeared and thus the beautiful poinsettia came into being.

Contrary to urban legend, poinsettias are not truly toxic. Ingestion of the plant may cause diarrhea and vomiting in both animals and humans, and if the sap from a poinsettia gets in the eye it can cause temporary blindness.

However, the poinsettia plant–while having some unpleasant side effects— is not fatal if ingested as we have been led to believe by folklore.

When buying poinsettia flowers for your Christmas decorating, here are a few tips that will help you choose wisely:

• The plant should be approximately 2-½ times taller than the diameter of the container it is growing in.
• Don’t buy poinsettia plants that are displayed in paper or plastic sleeves, as this causes them to deteriorate quickly.
• Don’t choose poinsettias that are wilted or drooping as they will begin dropping leaves and be unattractive, or they might be diseased.
• Choose plants that are dark green all the way down to the soil line.
• If you keep poinsettias outside, be sure to cover them at night if the temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Choose bracts that are completely covered without a lot of green around the edges.

Poinsettias are perhaps the best known and most popular of all Christmas flowers, and will lend a lovely, festive look to your holiday décor!