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The plants first arrived at the Master Gardeners greenhouse in late July standing only about an inch tall. Gummen Orange and Ball Horticultural Company donated the plugs, which included an assortment of shades of reds, whites, and variegated. In exchange for the plugs, 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener volunteers kept records of the growth progress and overall health of the plants as part of the North American Poinsettia Trials, in which they\u2019ve participated for nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe tracked the height and width of the inflorescences. We also tracked how early the flower formed,\u201d said Mulready.\u201d Growers are especially interested in how a white plant did in the northeast. They play with genetics to try to develop a really bright white color. By shipping them to us, the plants are put under different lighting and heating conditions that influence how white a poinsettia gets. Then we send our records back to them as part of their research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FUN FACTS:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- The cuetlaxochitl originally had nothing to do with Christianity or Christmas, they were a sacred plant used in ceremonies to celebrate the birth of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god, during winter solstice. The Aztecs used cuetlaxochitl for a variety of purposes, including decoration and the production of red and purple dyes, as well as for medicines derived from the plant\u2019s milky white sap.<\/li>
- In 1828, cuetlaxochitl was taken from its native home and brought to the United States by Joel Roberts Poinsett, a U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Poinsett is celebrated for introducing the poinsettia to the United States and for co-founding the Smithsonian Institution. However, his legacy as a slave owner and his role in the displacement of countless Native Americans has led some people today to reject the name \u201cpoinsettia\u201d in favor of the plant\u2019s native name, cuetlaxochitl.<\/li>
- Although poinsettias are not harmful to humans, the flowers should be kept out of reach of pets. Consumption can cause illness.<\/li>
- Poinsettias do best in indirect sun for at least six hours a day. They like temperatures of around 68 degrees.<\/li>
- What most people think of as the flower petals of the poinsettia are actually called \u201cbracts\u201d and are special leaves. The tiny yellow parts in the center of the bracts are the plant\u2019s flowers.<\/li>
- Learn more about the 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener Program at https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/mastergardener\/<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
This story was written by Hugh Markey.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 22, 2022 \u2013 Community libraries, senior centers, and food pantries around Rhode Island look a bit brighter these days, thanks to the 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener Program\u2019s poinsettia propagation project. This year, in partnership with the Community Libraries of Providence, books about the plants and their cultural significance were read during story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":74390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82064"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82086,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82064\/revisions\/82086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}