Holidays
Stunning photos show 100,000 colorful poinsettias ready for Christmas
The flowers, which are native to Mexico, are planted in June and kept in warm greenhouses at temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius.
By Ellie Forbes via SWNS
These stunning pictures show more than 100,000 colorful poinsettias ready for Christmas.
The bright red poinsettia plants have become a popular festive tradition in the UK and were grown by staff at Pentland Plants in Loanhead, Midlothian.
Owner Carolyn Spray, 54, has been selling the plants commercially for more than 25 years after her grandfather first introduced them to Britain in the 1960s.
This year a beautiful crop of 100,000 red, white and pink poinsettias have been grown, with most sold to garden centers around the UK.
The flowers, which are native to Mexico, are planted in June and kept in warm greenhouses at temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius.
Carolyn said: “We have grown 100,000 this year, with red being the most popular.
“We also have white, pink, SkyStars which are red with white dots, and Glitter ones which are red with a yellow through it.
“They started growing in June so they have been here for a while, it’s a long crop.
“They originated in Mexico so they need high temperatures, lots of light and warmth, and no cold drafts.
“We have the temperatures in the greenhouses at 22 degrees Celsius.
“My grandfather first introduced them to Britain back in the 1960s.
“He read about them in one of the American horticultural journals and imported the plants’ dried rootstock and grew them before trying to sell them.
“He tried to make them popular but no one wanted them back then - now here we are all these years later growing them.”