Gardening
New Ways to Display Poinsettias This Holiday Season
A holiday display with pink and red Princettia® Euphorbia poinsettias.
Photo courtesy of Suntory Flowers
Nothing says the holidays like a poinsettia. This year, try some new ways to display this festive plant.
Poinsettias are available in a variety of colors including white, pink, hot pink, yellow, peach, marbled and speckled. These colorful parts of the plant, often referred to as flowers, are actually modified leaves called bracts. The real flowers are small, yellow and appear at the tip of the stem surrounded by the bract.
Look for new places to display your poinsettia. Place a plant on a side or serving table. Remove the foil and set the plant in a decorative container. Try a hot pink poinsettia in a white pot or several different colors set in a serving tray, basket, or unique container. Add a table runner, candlestick, bowl of colorful fruit or other decorative touches.
Dress up individual or a group of poinsettias. White poinsettias donned with colorful berries, Chinese lantern pods and bobbles may be all you need for an eye-catching display.
Use poinsettias as a centerpiece for your holiday meals. Place several potted poinsettias in the middle of the table. Cover the plastic pots with greens. Then add some colorful pepper berries, cranberries, apples, or ornaments. Compact poinsettias like the Princettia® poinsettia with its abundant vibrant flowers work well for this application. Your guests will be able to see across the table as they visit over dinner, enjoying the holiday ambience created by these beautiful plants.
Dress up each place setting with a cut poinsettia bloom. Simply cut the flowers off a potted poinsettia plant to the desired length. Place it in a floral water pick, the water-filled tubes used for cut flowers. Tuck the bloom into a napkin, set it in a small bud vase or add a ribbon to dress it up. They make great party favors for your guests.
Look for other ways to include these in your holiday décor. Even one cut poinsettia flower set among a bowl of silver, gold or white ornaments adds a nice holiday touch. Set a few cut flowers aside to use as unique package adornments. Just secure the flower, floral pick and all, with a colorful ribbon to the gift.
Use cut poinsettia flowers in a vase like you would other blooms. Even one of these large blossoms puts on quite the display and is sure to brighten even the smallest of rooms.
Combine your poinsettia with a few greens and other flowers. Quickly sear the cut end of the poinsettia stems to prevent the sticky sap from leaking into the water. Dress up your arrangement by filling the vase with cranberries, small ornaments, or other colorful adornments.
While enjoying your holidays, a discussion on the proper pronunciation of the plant's name may arise. Some say Poinsett-a and don't pronounce the second i. Others include it and say Poinsett-e-a? You will find both pronunciations in various dictionaries. In other words, either one is considered correct, so no one loses this debate.
These colorful plants are sure to brighten your spirits throughout the holiday season, so be sure to make some space for a few poinsettia displays.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Corona Tools for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Auction, Antiques, and Collectibles News
In a follow up to the local news story I wrote about in my last column, I'm excited to announce that the auction of Worcester, New England and other historical memorabilia starts this week. The collection belonged to the Rotman family of Worcester. While the Rotman name is most well-known for their furniture store, the family ran a highly successful sports card and memorabilia business. They also held telephone bid auctions during the 1980s and 1990s. We will be offering nearly 700 lots of items they collected. The Rotman's collection online auction will begin this week, with bidding closing on Wednesday, December 7th. There will be a preview at Rotman's Furniture on Saturday, December 3rd and Sunday, December 4th. Pickup for local bidders will be held on Saturday, December 10th and Sunday, December 11th.
As for other antique news, I shared in a September column that Paul Allen's art collection could bring over $1 billion at auction. The auction took place earlier this month and far exceeded that estimate, topping $1.6 billion. CNBC reported that five paintings sold for over $100 million. The top selling painting was Georges Seurat's "Les Poseuses, Ensemble," which brought $149.2 million.
In more noteworthy auction news, CBS News reported that the only known poster for the 1959 Moorhead, Minnesota Buddy Holly concert recently sold. Holly was touring with Richie Valens and the "Big Bopper" (J.P. Richardson) when their plane tragically crashed, killing Holly, Valens, Richardson and everyone on board. The poster had fallen from a telephone pole soon after the show was cancelled and was picked up by a maintenance man who placed it in a closet. After being forgotten for about 50 years, the poster sold for $447,000 earlier this month, setting a record for a rock and roll poster. The previous record was for a poster from the Beatles 1966 concert at Shea Stadium.
CoinNews.net reports that Mike Coltrane's estate collection recently went on the auction block. Many of the coins were minted soon after our country's independence. A 1792 President Washington cent went for $136,000. A 1794 half cent that, according to coinnews.net, was the second or finest example known, brought $168,000. A half cent from 1793 sold for $180,000. A "New Jersey Copper" was the top seller at $192,000. The entire collection sold for $2.4 million. That's certainly more than just pocket change.
It was nice seeing many of you at our recent Townsend Historical Society, Worcester Senior Center and Leicester Historical Society appraisal events. We had two online auctions close this week and we have two more sales scheduled for this year. As mentioned, the Rotman's online auction begins this week. We will also have a large auction of art, historical memorabilia and other antiques and collectibles beginning in two weeks. Please visit our website www.centralmassauctions.com for links to upcoming events.
Please contact us at: www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com for antiques and collectibles auction services.