Poinsettia delight!

Among the many pots on my roof top garden, I had noticed a foliage plant which looked very familiar but one which I couldn't quite place or identify. I didn't remember bringing it home from any nursery. Every time I looked at it I would wonder where it came from. Its the second pot on the left against the wall.

Below is a close up of the leaves. 

And then one day recently, I was very pleasantly surprised when I looked at the leaves. They were turning red!! And that is when it registered. It was a Poinsettia!

  

Every year around November, I buy many beautiful Poinsettia plants because I just love them. They lift my mood instantly!

And by April they all wither and die one by one. I've tried to keep them alive by keeping them in the shade and shielding them from the Delhi heat but not one survived ever. I've tried planting them in the ground hoping they would be able to survive that way. But nothing seemed to help. In the picture below you can see one with most of the leaves gone.

And now it is just great to see that one of them survived, after all! And I have absolutely no clue how it survived our Delhi heat when temperatures go up to 114 degrees fahrenheit!

I am thrilled and it is looking prettier every day.

Thanks to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

My balcony garden with Poinsettias, Mums and Coleus

My balcony is looking rather dressed these days with Chrysanthemums, Coleus and my favorite Poinsettias. Every year I take a trip to the nursery around November and buy some Poinsettias which I then flaunt on my balcony. The plants this year are rather small and two of them have lost a branch each so they are looking even smaller now. Poinsettia branches sadly are rather brittle!

I grow the Chrysanthemums on my rooftop terrace garden as it gets good sunlight unlike my lawn which is shaded by huge trees growing just outside the boundary wall of my house. Once the buds make an appearance, we take the pots down to the balcony where we can enjoy them even more.

 Rows of Chrysanthemum pots on the terrace.

And brought down to the balcony now.

Poinsettias!

I think Poinsettias are instant mood uplifters. As I mentioned in a recent post, recently I bought some Poinsettias for my balcony and now my little balcony garden looks so cheerful with Chrysanthemums, Coleus and Poinsettias.
There are also some in a planter adjacent to my balcony.
Poinsettias(Euphorbia Pulcherrima) are native to Mexico and Central America. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first ambassador of US to Mexico, who introduced them to the USA in 1825. Poinsettias are the number one potted plant sold in the United States which is pretty amazing considering they are mainly sold during the Christmas holiday season. They are also called Christmas flower.

In their native habitat they grow as perennial flowering shrubs upto ten feet tall. Contrary to general belief they are not poisonous though their milky white sap can be irritating to people with sensitive skin.

The showy colored parts of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).In the middle of the colored bracts are the actual flowers. When you buy the Poinsettias be sure these are definitely still looking yellowish-green and unopened. It should look like they are just burgeoning. A fresh poinsettia is one on which little or no yellow pollen is showing on the flower clusters in the center of the bracts. Plants that have shed their pollen will also soon drop their colorful bracts.
Poinsettia plants are extremely brittle and should be handled with care to not snap branches. They should be placed in a bright area and kept on the dry side.
Another picture of Poinsettias on my balcony in 2009.

Ornamental foliage..time for a change!

All summer my garden and my balcony have been mostly devoid of flowers. My attempts at growing Sunflowers and Zinnias failed miserably. I needed to see some color and soon! So I went to a nursery and treated myself to some bright red Poinsettias and some brightly colored Coleus.

With foliage colored as brightly as that, who needs flowers?!

My balcony garden display!

My favorite place in my home is my balcony, especially in the mornings. I just love to sit out there and have my cup of tea and enjoy the greenery all around.