When it comes to home holiday decorations, the poinsettia is a familiar mainstay on mantelpieces and dinner tables. However the tradition of using this plant as part of home holiday decorations originated in Mexico, not in North America.
In Mexico, the poinsettia is are called by many names: “flor de fuego” (fire flower), “flor de Navidad” (Christmas Flower), and “flor de la Nochebuena” (Flower of the Holy Night). North American culture has since adopted this flower, which comes with red, white or pink leaves, as part of traditional home holiday decorations. In Europe the tradition of using poinsettias as part of Christmas décor is a Spanish influence; a hangover from when Spanish conquistadors brought the gorgeous plant over from Mexico for royalty to admire. Exactly how it became associated with Christmas is not exactly known but the flower is a familiar site in every way around Christmas time. In fact, a gift of a Poinsetta is a sought after gift.
Most people just use the plant itself as a decorating accent and place it on the mantel, a dining room table or on a plant stand of its own that gives it some majesty and prominence in the room. No matter where you put them nothing says Christmas quite as vividly as a poinsettia. You can also take poinsettia flowers and make them into a beautiful wreath for your front door. However it is better to make this out of silk or plastic poinsettia foliage as one made from real leaves might be expensive.
The poinsettia makes a great decorating accent, particularly if you are planning a color scheme that is all white or all red as part of your xmas décor. However if you have pets or children in the house you may want to avoid using poinsettias as part of your home holiday decorations because it is a very poisonous plant. In this case you can easily buy life-like plastic versions of this special Christmas flower at craft and retail chain stores. Another benefit to using the plastic or silk versions of poinsettias is that you can keep them dust free and clean. Poinsettias can also be fussy flowers. You need to take care of it if you want it to live long.
If you don’t like the idea of keeping the actual plant around there are is no shortage of linens, ribbons and other décor that have a screen-print of a poinsettia on them. You can also get ceramic and glass decorations in the shape of a poinsettia.