I am not particularly keen on the poinsettia, or Euphorbia pulcherrima: it looks like it has jumped out of the pages of one of those over-bright women's magazines of the seventies. And like the Christmas cactus, lots of people buy it (often from the forecourt of a freezing petrol station, an outdoor market or the likes of B&Q) and then don't understand when it keels over before the Queen's speech is out.
If you do insist on buying one, there's a good piece on the Telegraph site on how to keep poinsettias going well into the new year, although it's never going to be a plant that lasts for a long time in the house.
You can, with a great deal of care, coax poinsettias into flowering the following year. But I wouldn't bother trying. Part of the problem with the poinsettia, and with houseplants in general - is a problem of perception. The fact is that a lot of houseplants are never meant to be long term residents in the home, but should instead be treated as short term visitors, more akin to a bunch of flowers, albeit with a slightly longer life span. This is explained in DG Hessayon's houseplant bible, which is probably the only book I would recommend for anyone who thinks their houseplants have got a death wish.This book is an essential reference guide so that when you do buy a new houseplant, you can find out how long it is supposed to live for, and how you can keep it thriving in the meantime. And remember: if you a houseplant does die on you, just think of it as an excuse to try something new.
But can you grow houseplants organically too? Stay tuned ... I'll answer this question later this week.
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