Friday, December 01, 2006

Christmas Flower

The image that comes to mind when most people think about the traditional Christmas flower is a pot of red poinsettias. During the holiday season, you are likely to see this Christmas flower everywhere you go, from the fake displays in department store windows, to the real ones scattered throughout people’s homes. This plant with its brilliant red flowers is the ultimate Christmas foliage.

The problem with poinsettias is that they can be toxic if ingested by people and animals. I’ve seen children eat anything from money to dust balls on the floor, so thinking that they won’t eat a plant is a little unlikely.

Though poinsettias are traditionally red in color, there are now hybrids that come in white also. This color is not traditionally thought of as a Christmas flower, but looks nice when you have a large display of poinsettias and want to mix some different colored blooms in with the usual red. I’ve seen beautiful displays of poinsettias in the mall at Christmastime that incorporate both the red and white variety of flowering plant to create a gorgeous display of Christmas blooms.

When you think of winter flowers, not many variations come to mind. After all, flowers are more of a spring thing.