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- Visitors purchase poinsettias, evaluate new varieties at annual event
(12/02/16) BATON ROUGE, La. – Scores of visitors prowled through a greenhouse at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden on Dec. 2, selecting poinsettias to purchase and voting for their favorites among the varieties on display.
The poinsettia show has been presented for more than 20 years, according to Jeff Kuehny, resident director at the Botanic Gardens. The annual event provides poinsettia growers and the public with an opportunity to view some of the latest poinsettia varieties and to see the results of LSU AgCenter research with the plants.
The 2016 poinsettia open house displayed some of the latest popular poinsettia varieties called Princettia poinsettias.
“They have a much smaller bract for a daintier-looking display,” Kuehny said. “The bract colors are very bright, and they have become a popular alternative to the traditional red poinsettia.”
Louisiana has about 300 commercial poinsettia growers, Kuehny said. “They produce florist-quality plants that are sold through florists and nurseries.”
Visitors rate each selected variety on a seven-point scale from “strongly do not like” to “strongly like.” The evaluations help growers select plants for production next year, he said.
Customers peruse poinsettias on display at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden annual poinsettia sale on Dec. 2, 2016. Botanic Gardens director Jeff Kuehny said plants with small bracts such as the Princettia variety, seen in foreground at right, are popular this year. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
A visitor evaluates poinsettias on display during the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden poinsettia sale on Dec. 2, 2016. An important part of the annual event is giving people a chance to grade poinsettia varieties so growers can produce those that have the characteristics that consumers desire most. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
A customer hands poinsettia plants she picked out to volunteers so they can place them in protective brown paper cones during the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden annual poinsettia sale on Dec. 2, 2016. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter