It’s the holidays and we wanted to learn about how we could incorporate nature into our holiday celebrations. So we headed to our local Pike nursery to learn all about holiday plants and trees. We met a lovely lady named Alison who showed us around and taught us all kinds of fun stuff! So come join us on our plant adventureJ!
First up, let’s learn about poinsettias!
Beuatiful Poinsettia!
Edmond liked the white poinsettias
Poinsettias are tropical plants, that are native to Mexico and they are beautiful! They come in all kinds of colors (from red to pink to white) and sizes (large and small)! Did you know that the colored part of the poinsettia is actually the leaf and not the flowering part of the plant? We didn’t either! The flower of the poinsettia is in the center of the plant and looks like tiny little yellow Venus Flytraps (at least that’s what Edmond thought they looked like).
- Red and white speckled!
The yellow center is actually the flower and the leaves are red! Don't the flowers look like Venus Flytraps?
Poinsettias are considered blushing plants; no they don’t turn red when embarrassed, but that would be funny. Their green leaves turn dark purple to red as the days get shorter. Neat!
Did you also know that poinsettias are members of the succulent family? Succulent plants retain water in their leaves and roots and are adapted to live in tropical to desert environments. You may be familiar with cactus, also members of the succulent family! The succulent family of plants is very large and diverse! We found these relatives of the poinsettia at the nursery! They’re called Euphorbia, funny name, pretty plants!
Euphorbia! We thought they look like little palm trees!
More Euphorbia! These kind of look like cactus!
One more type of Euphorbia!
Our new friend showed us the Norfolk Island pine tree! They are a neat little tree that is native to the Pacific Island of Norfolk Island. They are also called the Star pine, because their branches are in a star pattern. These trees do well as house plants, but will not survive outside because they’re tropical! They make great Ellie and Edmond sized Christmas trees too!
Here we are with an Ellie and Edmond sized Norfolk Island Pine!
Norfolk Island Pine!
We also stumbled upon some topiaries! They use ivy to grow around the shape underneath. Edmond especially loved the reindeer topiary!
Edmond loved the reindeer topiary!
The next plant we discovered was the cyclamen! These flowers grown inside out and they smell like crayons! So fun! Each leaf of this plant is looks a little different. Ellie loved the pink ones!
Ellie with the cyclamen! It smells like crayons!
The last plant we found was the Christmas cactus. They are a tropical plant from South America! The flowers of the Christmas cactus come in white, yellow, red, pink and other colors! These plants also bloom when the days get shorter! We have fun with these!
Christmas cactus with white buds!
We decided to relax among the Christmas cactus! Not all cactus are pointy!
Pike’s has so many beautiful plants and we could have stayed all evening to learn about all them! Alison was a great teacher! You should definitely go and find yourselves some beautiful holiday plants to brighten your home. Remember to do your homework though when getting a plant if you have small pets or children, they can often be toxic, including the poinsettia. Cats especially like to chew on plants, we know, the cat we live with eats plants all the time! We actually eat plants to being herbivores and all!
Check out of some of the other pictures we took as we explored the store!
They had loads of bird seed! You should stop by and get the wild birds in your neightborhood a little Christmas gift :)!
Here we are hiding in some poinsettias! Fun!
Beautiful lit trees!
Elephants & Horses love to share!
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Range/Habitat: North America-Europe-Asia/Tundra-forest
The Adventures of Ellie and Edmond 