National Poinsettia Day

We can’t discuss the history of National Poinsettia Day without first taking a few moments to talk about the history of the plant—at least, it’s the history of being a part of the Christmas season. According to legend, a little girl in 16th century Mexico wanted to celebrate Jesus Christ’s birthday, but she was poor so she couldn’t come up with a gift. As she was grief-stricken by her inability to give Jesus a gift, an Angel appeared to her and told her that she could give Jesus any gift—as long as it was given with love. So that’s what she did. She gathered weeds from the side of the road to place in a manger display. As she prepared to place them, however, they transformed from ordinary weeds into beautiful red stars. And ever since then, according to legend, they’ve been associated with Christmas. Although the history of Poinsettia Day isn’t as colorful as the legend of the poinsettia, the history of this plant’s immigration to this country and the creation of this holiday is interesting nonetheless. An American botanist and the first U.S Minister To Mexico named Joel Roberts Poinsett was the one who initially brought this plant to the United States in 1825. However, at this time, the plant still hadn’t become associated with Christmas. No, that wouldn’t happen until Paul Ecke started selling the plants as Christmas flowers from his roadside stand during the 1920s. It was from that point onwards that people began to associate this flower with this plant. The holiday would be established by the U.S House Of Representatives in 2002 to honor the life of Paul Ecke—the father of the American poinsettia industry. December 12th was chosen because that was the day in which he died. It’s been a holiday that’s celebrated by an ever-increasing number of people who love these plants that have the beautiful red star design.