National Poinsettia Day – December 12

Each year on the 12th of December, people across the United States celebrate one of the most recognizable plants of the holidays on National Poinsettia Day.

In 16th-century Mexico, the connection between the poinsettia plant and the Christmas season begins. According to legend, a girl wanted desperately to celebrate Jesus’s birthday. Worried, the girl feared she would have no gift to offer because she was so poor. An angel tells her to give any gift with love. After gathering weeds from alongside the road, the young girl placed them in the manger. Miraculously the weeds bloomed into beautiful red stars.

Poinsettias come in a stunning variety of colors, including classic red, pink, white, peach, yellow, and even unique shades like blue and purple.

The poinsettia initially came to the United States with Joel Roberts Poinsett, an American botanist and the first U.S. Minister to Mexico. In 1825, he sent cuttings home to Charleston, South Carolina.

However, it wasn’t until the early 1920s that the poinsettia started taking root in American culture. Paul Ecke, a second-generation farmer in California, discovered a grafting technique that caused the seedlings to branch. Hawking their Christmas flower at roadside stands, Paul Ecke Jr. later advanced sales of the poinsettia through shipping and marketing.

The House of Representatives in 2002 created Poinsettia Day to honor the father of the poinsettia industry, Paul Ecke. The date of December 12 marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the man responsible for bringing the plant to the United States.

The date of Poinsettia Day, December 12, marks the death anniversary of Joel Roberts Poinsett to highlight his contribution to introducing the poinsettia to the United States. It also coincides with the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe that is widely celebrated throughout the flower’s home country of Mexico; it is a common tradition in Mexico to decorate shrines dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe with poinsettia flowers.

The best way to celebrate National Poinsettia Day is to check out your local florist or greenhouse, buy several poinsettia plants, and use them to decorate your home for Christmas. You also can buy someone a poinsettia plant as a gift and spread the word about the holiday on social media using the hashtags #PoinsettiaDay and #NationalPoinsettiaDay.

With the right care, you can keep your poinsettia’s bright bracts looking beautiful well into the new year.