floradania.dk 49/2013

Article: Christmas decorations - made your way
December is both a cosy as well as a busy month. Use Christmas flowers as a common denominator for all the activities, that are about to take place and invite family members to participate in the coming joyful tasks. Then you will be well on the way to an enjoyable and nice Christmas month.

Cosy domesticity
The Poinsettia is the essence of traditional Christmas spirit and cosy domesticity. Let the plant unite all members of the family for a casual meeting, where you gather around a bowl of heated aebleskiver (Danish pancakes) while you talk about what the Christmas month will bring, how to decorate your home, who will bake cakes and cookies and who will take care of all the other preparations – and last but bot least: when to get together the next time!

Present idea for a christmas visit 
In December cosy family gatherings are common events and often you bring a little present for the hostess. Place a miniature poinsettia in a fancy pot, tie a silky ribbon around the pot and you will have the cutest present for the hostess that will last until Christmas.

Another possibility is to place the wellknown, deep red Poinsettia in a fun, modern pot and arrange it like a little fairy tale in the window sill or on the book shelf. Remember to wrap the present as the Poinsettia that originates from Mexico cannot withstand frost.

Decorate the christmas table 
It is also a good idea to talk about how the Christmas table should be arranged this year, so you can start to look forward to the grand evening. The color spectre of the Poinsettias is in itself a color explosion from delicate white, lime, salmon pink to common red and deep red – almost bordeaux, so the options are plenty.

Choose f.ex. the elegant, nordic look with a bright miniature Poinsettia placed on a dish with salmon pink miniature Poinsettias as the centre point of the christmas table.

Make it fun –  Make it yourself 
It is fun to make your own Christmas decorations together with children who can easily be helpful with glue, decoration material and plants. This is a good idea for an elegant and simple Christmas decoration to  light up the sweet Christmas time. 

You need:
Poinsettia, pillow moss, glass bowl and snow sprinkles (here shredded candle), white twigs, glue, decoration material (here ice crystals).
Directions:
Place a Poinsettia and pillow moss in a glass bowl and decorate with snow sprinkles, here shredded candle. The white twigs are then placed in the pot, so they are stuck with the help of the Poinsettia and the pillow moss in the bottom of the glass bowl. Decorate with little white ice crystals that are glued on the bowl and the twigs. 

Facts:
In 2012 a total of 8.5m Poinsettias were produced in Denmark.
The botanical name of the Poinsettia is Euphorbia pulcherrima, which means ”the most beautiful of all Euphorbias”.
The Poinsettia must be watered regularly and preferably in the saucer, but it must not soak in water.