It is time to add those holiday plants to your home like amaryllis, paperwhites, Christmas cactus, and poinsettias. You may have seen the great varieties in color choices poinsettias come in. You can even get them in unusual colors that are painted.
I have the fun job at a local garden center of painting and adding glitter to our poinsettias. I am an organic gardener and permaculturist in addition to being a Colorado Master Gardener so it is always a concern for me what is being applied to our plants. At our center, we use vegetable based dyes that are specially formulated for poinsettias. We spray these dyes so we can achieve those beautiful purples, mauves, blues, and oranges.
It is applied in three stages.
First a light coat on the top leaves.
Then the underside of leaves,
Then a second light coat on top & any glitter on that final coat.
The care for painted poinsettias is virtually the same as all poinsettias. The only differences we have noted are that they are a little more sensitive to intense light, which poinsettias don’t prefer anyways. New growth will come back as its original natural color. You should always check with your independent garden center to be sure what kind of spray they use to color their poinsettias. Most use these vegetable based dyes.
Be sure to add some beautiful holiday color to your home with painted poinsettias.