5 New Varieties Shaking Up the Poinsettia Tradition

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.

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.

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