Irritating Plant of the Month: December - Euphorbia pulcherrima

I was wondering what I would choose to be the most irritating plant in the garden for this month when I got sidetracked and distracted to the point of deciding I would cheat.  My blog, my rules, I can cheat if I want to as I am only cheating myself.  After very little thought I decided the plant that had irritated me the most this month was....

Euphorbia pulcherrima....
yes, the poinsettia and not even a usual poinsettia, no, a poinsettia with glitter applied.

Why?  why do this to the poor plant?  It is probably already doomed to die as they can be tricky to keep alive as houseplants (and the smug of you who have kept one alive for thirty years can just be quiet at the back there!)

Now I could tell you that it is the bracts that give the great colour and that they are tender and need careful looking after to survive.  But this poor thing has been covered in glitter and that is just not good.  This plant is native to Mexico and I can only begin to imagine how wonderful it would be to see one growing wild and free in its natural habitat.

Did I mention someone had covered it in glitter?

Did I mention that until I sat down to write this post I did not know they were a euphorbia?

Did I mention that I keep calling them pointsettias? (that is the digital version....)

Poor poor poinsettia, may you rest in peace or hopefully be composted as at least then you will be giving something back.

Comments

  1. No! A Euphorbia? Well I never.

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  2. And, the parts of the plant that most people call the flower, are actually colorful modified leaves, known as "bracts". The actual flowers are tiny (euphorbia tiny) and at the center of the bracts on the very top of the plant. btw I don't like the glitter either.

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    Replies
    1. I think I need to peer at the actual flowers more as it is so unlike other euphorbias

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  3. Poor things! I must admit that although I wrote about them once (giving them bad press) in a newspaper column, I had also forgotten that they were Euphorbias.
    The ones with cream bracts look marginally better than the red ones.
    As for glitter, I once put a Christmas ivy out in the garden and it kept its glitter all year!
    Merry Christmas :)

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  4. I felt this same this week seeing those tiny Christmas trees in pots covered in spray-snow - such a horrible thing to do to something that's alive :(

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  5. I wouldn't give one of those ghastly glitter-covered monstrosities house room! After all I need the space for my orange, blue, pink, purple and fluorescent green-dyed heathers. I would also want to research what that glitter stuff's made of before chucking it on the compost heap!

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    Replies
    1. It's amazing what they find to do to perfectly good plants to make them 'more' attractive.

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