On 27/12/2013 16:06, mogga wrote:
On Fri, 27 Dec 2013 14:38:22 +0000, rbel wrote:

On Fri, 27 Dec 2013 13:47:53 +0000, Fuschia
wrote:

On Fri, 27 Dec 2013 13:25:11 +0000, Jim S wrote:

Looking at the scores of unsold poinsettias in my local supermarket, it
made me wonder what % of the world's poinsettias actually get sold.

and how many of those received as gifts are looked after and not
thrown out at New Year.

I don't know but probably the great majority. Not very keen on them.
however about 30 years ago I saw one that was really spectacular and
quite unforgettable. It was located in a private garden on the
eastern outskirts of Chania in Crete and it was at least 10 feet tall
with a 15 feet spread. I must see if I can dig up a photo.


How hardy are they?
My mum has got two.


Like Turkeys they are breed just for the Xmas market.
They won't take frost as my late mother found out many years ago when
she worked for a year on a mission station near Pietermaritzburg.
They had a bush outside that was over 20 ft wide, and she kept meaning
to take pics of it, then finally she got a new film for her camera and
decided to take the pictures "in the morning", that night they had a
sharp frost, and next morning just bare stems, all the leaves had fallen
off..
David @ a breezy side of Swansea Bay where the wind was gusting to over
70mph for 9 hours with a top gust of 85mph, and gusting to over 60 mph
for 15 hours