Christmas Stars align for Poinsettia Day on 12th December
December heralds the start of one of the most magical times of the year, Advent, as we get in the mood for Christmas with carols, cards and festive decorations. If you want to bring a naturally elegant style into your home this season, without losing any of the traditional charm associated with Christmas, poinsettias are the perfect place to start. Beautifying garden centres up and down the country, where they retail for very little cost, they also help to keep these businesses alive during the winter months. So popular are these unique plants that they have their own special day coming up on 12th December: National Poinsettia Day!
Every Advent beautiful poinsettias – also known as the Christmas Star – come into their own in glorious style and a myriad of shapes. Their colourful bracts that range from blood red and Barbie pink to pure white, warming apricot and variegated brilliance, which ensure poinsettias are the go-to plant for co-ordinated Christmas styling.
In size they run the gamut from charming miniatures up to spectacular plants the size of small shrubs. As perfect for adorning Christmas trees, wreaths and tabletops as they are for gifting to dinner party hosts, friends and colleagues; ideal as cut plants and beautiful in bouquets, poinsettias are as versatile as they are pretty.
Strong seasonal sales
Remarking on this year’s poinsettia sales, Andy Little, plant buyer at British Garden Centres said: “So far, we are tracking 6% up on poinsettia sales compared to the same time in 2023. Red continues to be the colour of choice and red poinsettias have accounted for exactly 69% of sales across both years.
“This year marks the first time we’ve offered a range of tot/mini poinsettias, and these have been very well received by customers. However, in the tot/mini varieties, it’s the mixed colours that are just edging it on sales versus the reds.
Andy also said that customers are seemingly moving away from the 10.5cm pot size and opting for the 13cm pot size instead, with almost identical sales moving from one to the other this year.
Potentially this could be down to us offering a Multibuy option in the 13cm this year, and customers might be jumping at the opportunity to receive even better value for money.
The positive sentiments were echoed by Phil Munn, manager of Woods Garden Centre (Capital Gardens), Berkhamsted, who commented: “Our poinsettia sales have been absolutely amazing this year. It is such a versatile plant and perfect for all kinds of uses as long as you look after it properly.
“We always give customers plenty of care advice so they know how to keep poinsettias looking their best, and we wrap them up very well with a free bag and plenty of paper so they don’t get cold on the way home. We explain how to water them, keep them out of cold draughts and so on because we want them to stay looking beautiful for as long as possible.
“We are known locally for our poinsettias and this year made sure we got in some of the more unusual varieties and special colours in early. This year pink has been hot to say the least, especially the ones with pink and white variegated leaves. As soon as December arrives, though, everyone wants the traditional red poinsettias. The stock we had has been going very quickly, it’s a very strong year for poinsettias”.
Find out more
To find out more about Stars for Europe visit www.starsuniteeurope.eu/en/