No plant can rival the Christmas tree during the holiday season, but poinsettias come in a solid second place.  

With dark green and red leaves and colorful bracts, the flowers coordinate with the holiday themes. While fir trees, cut off from their roots, have no chance to survive into the new year, poinsettias can fare better—but often don’t.  

Marc Frank, extension botanist for UF/IFAS, said poinsettias sell for only a couple dollars around the holiday season when their beauty is in full bloom.  

“That’s why poinsettias have become something of a disposable potted crop,” Frank said. “Most people are just enjoying them while they’re in flower and then getting rid of them, which I suppose is a slightly cheaper alternative to Christmas trees.”   

Frank said hobby gardeners and plant enthusiasts should be able to keep poinsettias alive throughout the year. The hard part is getting the plants, native to Mexico and Central America, to return to their blooming beauty.  

Commercial greenhouses have drip irrigation, sometimes having a direct line for water going to each plant. The drip line provides the perfect amount of water, fertilizer and growth hormone for the plants. Huge grow lights and shades supply the right amount of light.  

The store-bought poinsettias are like superstars on screen—perfectly pruned for that one scene.  

People at home can’t really compete. But for amateur gardeners, it’s possible to get similar results for those willing to put in the work and put up with the “nonsense” that Frank said poinsettias require to bloom.   

Or you can enjoy the store-bought blooms each year. Here’s a guide for both, plus two alternatives to poinsettias.

Holiday Care 

For just holiday care, Frank said to provide your poinsettia with a warm, well-lit space and lots of watering. 

Most holiday poinsettias come wrapped in foil. Frank said to remove the foil or cut out the bottom of it to allow water to exit. Poinsettias need to be thoroughly watered, but the plants also need to dry out between waterings.  

Placing poinsettias in windows allows lots of light and keeping them indoors allows good temperatures—especially if you keep a warm house in the winter. But be careful of drafty windows that might chill your plants 

Frank said he’s had poinsettias keep their bracts for several months, looking festive into the new year.  

Next year, you can buy more. Or you can take the horticultural challenge to keep your poinsettia and make it bloom next year. 

All Year Care 

Gainesville lies too far north to put poinsettias in the ground. In Mexico and tropical areas, poinsettias grow into 10-foot-tall bushes and trees, but that’s only possible from Orlando and further south, Frank said.  

The frost and 30-degree temperatures that Gainesville receives do a lot of damage to poinsettias. 

So, if you’re in for the long haul, Frank said repotting the poinsettias after the holiday season would be a good idea. He recommends getting potting soil from the store and not skimping out.  

“When you’re talking about growing media for plants, the more expensive products usually have a higher quality and a more consistent quality, where you’re going to grow better plants,” Frank said. “So, that’s one of the things that I don’t cut corners on.” 

Poinsettias also prefer acidic dirt, and Frank said companies sell potting soil for acidic-loving plants that could be an option. If the soil gets too basic (with a pH above 7), he said the poinsettia leaves might start turning yellow  

When the weather gets warmer, Frank said you can cut back the poinsettia and look to put it outside. Leave some leaves and buds on the plant, and he recommends letting the poinsettia adjust to the brighter outside light.  

Start by putting it under a carport or small tree and then gradually putting it into brighter, sunnier areas.  

Poinsettias can get large, and Frank said you might need to cut back the plant every couple of months. Then comes the hard part as fall approaches. 

“It’s not so much a challenge to grow them year-round, but it’s a challenge to bring them back into bloom because you have to think about the science of what’s stimulating the flower development,” Frank said. 

Frank said poinsettias go into bloom based on changes in lighting. In tropical climates, days start getting shorter headed toward the winter solstice while also staying warm enough to keep poinsettias alive outside. 

In Gainesville, the days get shorter but too cold for poinsettias to thrive outdoors. Inside, though, the days don’t naturally get shorter with artificial lighting.  

Lots of sites will recommend putting poinsettias in closets to manage the hours of sunlight. Frank said he’d like to know how many people are that dedicated. It’s a lot of work to move a poinsettia in and out of dark spaces for over a month. 

If you do, Southern Living recommends placing the plants in a sunny spot for 8 to 9 hours per day and then in complete darkness for the rest of the day—a closet or under a box in a dark room. 

You can start this process when October begins and continue it for 6 weeks or even through Thanksgiving before returning to a regular holiday schedule. 

Without the short days, Frank said poinsettias may not grow the bracts and dark red leaves, resulting in a green, leafy shrub of a plant. Even going through the rigmarole, Frank said the poinsettia might not look like those in the big box stores, prepped to look perfect for that moment. 

Frank said the difficulty level for reblooming a holiday poinsettia is pretty high. If you like the colors during the holidays but don’t have patience for poinsettias, he has two alternatives to try.  

First, a Chinese Evergreen. New breeds of these easy-to-grow plants come in pinkish and red varieties that match the holiday theme. 

Second, a moth orchid. Frank said stores are starting to sell these as holiday plants, and some varieties can match the red of the season. 

Frank said these orchids, like the poinsettia, will bloom for a month or two or maybe three before losing the flowers. But getting them to rebloom the next year is a lot easier than the “nonsense” that poinsettias force on you. 

The orchids are also fairly easy to keep alive indoors as well. 

But the challenge remains of the poinsettia and getting a perfect bloom for the holiday’s second favorite, but still first rate, plant.