I am surprised at my addiction to poinsettias and amaryllis this year.  I have always liked them, but never wanted to be surrounded by so many.  Maybe it is because I am working from home and they add a certain joy.  Maybe it is stress management for a new job.  Maybe it is cause (despite a lot of blunders) I got my orange one from last year to bloom.  Or, possible it is daylily withdraw.  Or, all of the above.

This week, I picked up a few more.  Today, I went back for the variegated one, and the first one I picked up lost a limb when I went to look for a pot.  The woman in floral saw me replace it with another.  It was an odd moment, but I did not bump it with any force, so my guess is that it was partially off before.  I felt bad . . . but they have made a huge profit off of my poinsettia journey this year.  And, these were $9, so they kept their profit 🙂  They should give poinsettia points instead of gas points.

So, here are the new ones.  (I am not sure on names on most of these and am wanting a book with that info if anyone knows of one):

A dappled pink one (above).

A dark pink one (above).  My beautiful lighter pink one is dying 😦

This one is called Ice Punch, I believe (above).

This one is huge – reminds me of peppermint (above).

This one is a variegated red one.  Yes, I finally got a red one . . . but it is unique!

I have ideas for the short day lighting these guys need to rebloom.  This year, I tried the cellar with some extra light on a timer.  To cold and dark, so while it bloomed, it dropped a lot of leaves.  Very leggy now beneath those blooms.  Next year, I will try a much warmer closet and add more lights for the first 4 weeks.  After that, they will go up on the bookshelf in my basement room, with boosted lights via timer.  I am hopeful that this will work . . . and keep me gardening into fall without overwhelming myself with covering and uncovering these.  Oh, and I also need to follow the pruning and fertilizer routine much better than this year.

I am guessing some will not make it to spring, but most will.  They will be out in my garden this summer with the daylilies.  I am jazzed by a winter hobby.  But, it is time to call it good and stay out of the poinsettias!