JOHNSTON - Long considered the flowering plant of Christmas, the poinsettia accounts for $220 million in sales during the holiday season.

According to the University of Illinois Extension, most are sold in a six-week period.
The poinsettia was introduced to the United States in 1828 by Joel Robert Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico being appointed by President John Quincy Adams, said the Extension's website.

Mr. Poinsett was a native of Greenville, South Carolina.

At the time of Poinsett's appointment, Mexico was involved in a civil war. During his stay in Mexico, he wandered the countryside looking for new plant species.
He found a beautiful shrub with large red flowers growing next to a road.

He took cuttings from the plant and brought them back to his greenhouse in South Carolina.

In the early 1900s, the Ecke family of southern California, grew poinsettias outdoors for use as landscape plants and as a cut flower, the website further explained. Eventually the family grew poinsettias in greenhouses and today is recognized as the leading producer of poinsettias in the country.

Locally, Rock Ridge Nursery of Johnston handles literally thousands of poinsettias a season.

"We get lots of orders," said owner Eric Carlson. "They're one of our bigger crops. We sell to churches and so forth and we wholesale to florists."

Carlson said work on the poinsettias begins the week after Christmas for the next year's crop.

"We order the next year's cuttings and they come in during April," he said. "We plant them in pots and take cuttings and root in June or July. We plant the cuttings in August. So, it's an all-year thing."

Carlson said they grow about five different sizes in white, pink and red, with red being the most popular color. They grow them in two greenhouses.

Rock Ridge Nursery has been in business since 1974 and has been at the present location on Ridge Road since 1982. They have grown poinsettias since 1985 or 1986. Carlson said he and his wife Lynn started the business when they got out of school.

"The economy was slack and jobs were hard to find, so we went into business," he said. "It was a hobby already. Both of us have grown things all our lives. We grew up on farms."

Although the poinsettia is primary at this time of year, the Carlsons also grow pansies and fall vegetables. In the spring, they grow bedding plants, geraniums and ferns.

"We're looking for a big spring," said Mrs. Carlson. "We'll have lots of vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash. We're always planning ahead."

Mr. Carlson offers some tips for taking care of one's poinsettia and making it last as long as possible.

"The most important thing is don't over water it," he said. "Feel the soil and see if it is dry before you water. Punch holes in the paper and put a saucer underneath so it can drain. Don't buy one in a plastic sleeve, gas accumulates from the plastic. Also, keep it in a sunny place with indoor temperatures from 60 to 70 degrees."

He added that the plant doesn't ship very well.

"If your poinsettia was bought and grown in a local greenhouse, with proper care it should be pretty until March or April," he said.