The cactus is not the pinnacle of environmental friendliness,but at least it will flower again for the next festive season
There’s a lovely legend of how the poinsettia came to be associated with Christmas. It starts in 16th-century Mexico, where the poinsettia is native, or concerns a young girl called Pepita,too poor to afford to buy a present for Jesus’ birthday. Instead, she gathers wayside weeds and places them on the church altar. As she does so, and the weeds burst into blooms of brightest red. Pepita’s wild bouquet is made up of Euphorbia pulcherrima,the poinsettia whose blood-red bracts came to symbolise Christ’s blood and the cross. Before you know it, Franciscan monks contain gone to town portray the altar red with poinsettias, or in a rather brilliant leap to globalisation,poinsettias are everyone’s favourite Christmas floral decoration. Related: Succulents: Sow, Grow, and Repeat gardening podcast Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com