December 12th of any year is National Poinsettia Day. It celebrates the beautiful plant we’ve come to assocaite with Christmas.

A Sandra Gilmore canvas named Carol holding a poinsettia. I started this years ago in a Cook up class with Amy Bunger as we worked through needleweaving the poinsettia leaves and other wonderful ideas. Needless to say that it is still a work in progress!

A beautiful canvas by Leigh Designs of a poinsettia. In Mexico it is known as “La Flor de la Nochebuena” or flower of the Holy Night or Christmas Eve. Use of the plant to celebrate Christmas in Mexico dates back to the 17th century. As the legend is told a young girl had nothing to honor to baby Jesus in a procession. An angel tells her that any gift given with love will suffice. She gathers weeds by the roadside to place around the manger which miraculously transform into the beautiful red star flower we know as a poinsettia.

Actually the poinsettia can be traced back farther than that to the Aztecs. The flower produced a red dye and the sap was know to control fevers. Montezuma had poinsettias delivered to him to what is now known as Mexico City.

December 12th was designated as National Poinsettia day as it marked the passing of Joel Poinsett, an American botanist, physician and minister to Mexico who in 1828 sent cuttings of the plant that he discovered in Southern Mexico to his home in Charlestion South Carolina.

This beautiful Santa is by Lee Designs of Colonial Needle. This would be a wonderful stocking for that special someone in your life! December 12th also honors Paul Ecke, a southern California native who is considered the father of the poinsettia industry. It was Paul’s discovery of technque to propogate poinsettia’s that has turned it into a multi million dollar business!

A Terry Enfield poinsettia ornament that I stitched many years ago along with a Swarovski poinsettia plant. The latter was a special gift to me when I won the 1rst annual Christmas award at the ANG Exhibit which that year was in Indian Wells, California.

A beautiful tree created of poinsettias at one of our Southern California malls. If you notice the escalator behind it, you can realize the size of it all!

How about a poinsettia magent? I am stitching one of the NeedleDeeva Christmas Cupcakes and the magnet really puts me in the holday spirit!

The kids are working very hard supervising me. and until next time…keep on stitching