Poinsettias are trending toward more vibrant, non-traditional colors ─ clearer whites, rosier pinks, autumnal tones. This movement opens up new opportunities for growers to offer poinsettias at times other than the standard holiday season run from November to December, and to expand further niche areas previously underutilized.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Bouquet’ (Dümmen Orange)
A contemporary take on the classic poinsettia, ‘Bouquet’ is true to its name with a concentration of bracts above a distinctively strong v-shaped architecture creating the aesthetic allure of a floral arrangement. This robust chassis lends itself to easy shipping to retail.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Christmas Joy Marble’ (Selecta)
The Christmas Joy Series times well for Black Friday and comes in a full range of container sizes. The plants offer medium vigor and an upright, v-shaped habit, which helps them make it to retail intact. Christmas Joy hits the early market without black cloth at 7½ weeks. New for 2017, ‘Christmas Joy Marble’ is a novelty color that expands the collection to offer a full range of options. Overall, there’s less shrink with this series so more plants can be sent to retail. Christmas Joy poinsettias are uniform at every stage and can be grown cool to save energy and money.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Ferrara’ (Dümmen Orange)
Inject a unique twist on the traditional Christmas Flower into fall décor with ‘Ferrara,’ which features a fast response time and bright-red bracts. It is great for reliable, high-density production that allows for increased units per acre. This new cultivar is suitable for all pot sizes.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Princettia Pure White’ (Suntory Flowers)
Pure White replaces Max White and matches the compact, pink Princettia varieties in growth habit. It presents a pure white color, combined with deep-green leaves. Well received at recent poinsettia trials, ‘Pure White’ tied for the best white at N.G. Heimos Greenhouses’ open house.
Queen Pink is the first queen-sized variety – in between the compact Princettias and a traditional poinsettia. Growers have asked for a Princettia that would size up to be more like a traditional poinsettia. Queen Pink has bright-pink bracts, which are larger than the other Princettia varieties but with the same vibrant color.
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Bouquet’ (Dümmen Orange)
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Christmas Joy Marble’ (Selecta)
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Ferrara’ (Dümmen Orange)
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Poinsettia (Euphorbia) ‘Princettia Pure White’ (Suntory Flowers)
As a whole, the industry centers on retail, according to Delilah Onofrey, License Manager for Suntory Flowers, who says people forget about using poinsettias in southern landscapes and interiorscapes throughout the country.
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She gives the examples of Walt Disney World in Florida using Princettia poinsettias in landscape applications at two of its resorts, Magic Kingdom, and its Epcot theme park, and of Dümmen Orange’s poinsettia displays at its Potted Plant Palooza, held Nov. 30, 2016 in Columbus, OH. The company displayed poinsettias in landscape flats that would also lend themselves to florists creating tablescapes and dish gardens. And it demonstrated how to incorporate poinsettias and other potted plants into popular home décor movements.
“Landscapes, interiorscapes, and floral are all niches that could be more developed more fully,” Onofrey says.
Along with non-traditional color offerings, painted poinsettias in blue, gold, fuchsia, yellow, and metallic colors have come into popularity. White poinsettias continue to be important as a canvas for painted poinsettias, Onofrey says. The jury is still out on whether painted poinsettias are a fabricated novelty destined to become a market fixture or a short-lived fad, but for now, what matters is they’re helping to increase sales.
Meanwhile, red poinsettias’ establishment as a must-have standard in the market is uncontested, but that doesn’t stop breeders from making improvements. They’re concentrating on varieties in this area that can withstand heat and not delay coloring in hot climates, which Onofrey says was a big focus at the University of Florida trials.