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Red is the color of Christmas — I wonder why?

Maybe not 5,000 poinsettias but enough to make a trip to the Glass Greenhouse, a Jamesport nursery, worth the effort.

I don’t know why red is the official color of Christmas, butobviously it is. Santa’s suit could just as well be yellow ororange – except it isn’t. Are amaryllis and poinsettias theChristmas choice of flowers because they’re red or is it the otherway around? I’m actually not going to spend a lot of time trying tofind out the answer to that question but if any of you think youknow, please get in touch. It is true that many colors look greatwith the greens of Christmas but it’s equally true that probablyonly red is the exact opposite of the grey of these December lateafternoons.

When I lived in Westchester I had a small garden business, onlytwo or three clients each spring for design and installation. Oneside benefit of the business, however, was the several accounts Ihad with wholesale nurseries and the price discounts involved,although neither of these advantages could touch the pleasure ofseeing 5,000 poinsettias all in bloom at the same time in oneplace. That was a moment that I savored for at least several weeksahead of time and as many afterwards.

Over 85 percent of potted plant sales during the holiday seasonare poinsettias and most are grown in California; over 100varieties are available. The plants were introduced into the UnitedStates in 1825 by Joel Poinsett. It’s often assumed that the showycolored parts of the plant are the flowers but they actually arebracts or modified leaves. The flowers are to be found in the fullcenter of the bract and are quite small. A poinsettia plant withlittle or no yellow pollen apparent on the flower clusters in thecenter of the bracts is the freshest, and is the one you want tobuy. If the plant has shed its pollen, the bracts will soon followsuit.

The plant does give off a milky sap, which is believed by someto be poisonous, but is not. It can irritate the skin but wouldhave to be consumed in massive quantities to cause even a stomachache.

Amaryllis, like poinsettias, are almost always red but again,like poinsettias, there are pink and cream varieties available. Ifyou know someone who likes them, they make an excellent Christmasgift since amaryllis fanciers take good care of their bulbs,carrying them over from one year to the next. A really good bulb,fully prepared at the right temperature, will usually produce twostems, each with four or more flowers. Good quality bare rootbulbs, require only warm air, bright light and water to put onquite a show 8 to 10 weeks after planting. If preferred, the bulbscan be grown in pebbles and water. The bulbs range in price, but alarge variety is available for less than $30 each.

White Flower Farm sells the widest range of choices that I’mfamiliar with and in addition, they sell some really beautifulcontainers, made especially for amaryllis bulbs, which are, to betruthful, somewhat ungainly. In fact, whenever I’ve grown them,I’ve succumbed to the impulse to treat them as cut flowers. Anumber of stems in an attractive glass pitcher easily overcomes theusual gawky, just-landed-from-another-planet impression. WhiteFlower Farm can be reached at 800-503-9624 or on line atwhiteflowerfarm.com.

Tip of the week: It’s always worth noticing what’s in bloom,either very early or very late in a given season. On December 5,the long display of geraniums in front of the HallocksvilleHomestead on the north road was still going strong, as were thepetunias in one of my window boxes.