Remember this lovely pink poinsettia? Well, sadly, it didn’t look like that for long. I don’t know if these new cultivars are more finicky than regular poinsettias, or if it was this plant in particular, but it dropped its leaves on a regular basis almost from the moment it left the greenhouse and entered my care.
By comparison, the other poinsettia I bought at the same time from the same place was far more easy care and would have maintained its leaves until now had I permitted it.
But it’s the end of February, almost March, and by now no one wants to look at poinsettias. Most of us are thinking spring!
The true gardener doesn’t toss the poinsettia, however (unless space is at a premium. In that case, I hope you can compost it at least).
Here’s the pink poinsettia today. It’s already on its way to lots of new regrowth. In fact, it looks great. I have it in a south window and despite the fact that they don’t like cold, it is tolerating the cooler temperatures in that window just fine. It must be the brighter spring sunshine sustaining it during the day.
So I will keep it there until about Memorial Day (or later if we have a cold spring). Then I will transition it outside to a shady area at first, then a partly sunny place for the summer. It will stay there until early September when I will bring it back in.
At that point, I will put it back into a sunny window, but I will make sure it’s in a room we don’t use much–likely our living room. Chances are, by next December, it will begin to set its colorful bracts again.
Knowing how easy this is, try keeping your poinsettia next year. They’re not really “toss away” plants.
Gardendaze 
It is not easy to get them to show color for Christmas, and if they do, it is not often like it was when you bought it. If I remember correctly, most of those that I remember were more colorful in January than they were in December. Some colored earlier, and held their color through December. The bracts are narrower an more lobed, but also more abundant. They can get quite tall, but look much better if pruned hard after bloom. I like to cut almost to the ground, leaving only a few new canes. Of course, where I am now, poinsettias do not do so well in the garden, and are likely to be damaged by frost when they are at their best.
Nope, it will never look like this, if f, only or the reason that I don’t use chemicals. I have had them bloom in December for me–it may be that my latitude is more conducive to that than most. But you’re right, they are imitations of themselves, much in the way that a kalanchoe’s rebloom never looks like the original. That’s just fine.
I have also had them rebloom in July which is almost more fun. You know that I don’t need–or care about–seasonal plants blooming “on schedule. ”
Karla