By Chad Koenen

Publisher

No plant is quite as synonymous with Christmas and the holiday season as the poinsettia. The bold red colors and large green leaves leave little doubt the holiday season is upon the region when a gaze comes across the typically seasonal plant. Well, unless your name is Marlene Stueve and you are able to transform a single small poinsettia plant into one that featured close to 100 blossoms and can last long beyond the final Christmas decorations are retired for the year.

“Last year I had  25 blossoms and this year it is very close to 100,” said Stueve of her three-year-old plant. 

Poinsettias are typically quite difficult to keep alive from year-to-year due to the nature of the plant that requires a perfect amount of fertilizer, water and sun/darkness each day. In the past, Stueve has put the symbolic plant of Christmas in a bigger pot after the holidays, cuts back the dead flowers in the spring and in the summer will put the plant outside once the weather warms up until the first week of October. Once she brings the plant inside she covers it with a towel for 12 hours a day as she said poinsettias typically need 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness to make their flowers bloom.

The amount of water each plant needs is also a form of artwork as Stueve said she gives her poinsettia plant about two quarters of water every second or third day, but will adjust the amount of water and fertilizer based on how the plant is looking throughout the year. When she brings it outside for the summer she changes out the soil and fertilizer and gives it a fresh pot to call home.

Stueve thought she originally bought the plant for church, but has enjoyed sharing the growing amount of glowing red blossoms with those who pass by her residence.

“I say I almost feel guilty because I am the only one who can see it,” she said.