Flower Of The Holy Night….Or Better Known As The Poinsettia Tablescape

Flower of the Holy Night or better known as the Poinsettia! 

Did you know there is a  National Poinsettia Day?

Yep! and it is the 12th of December!

AND did you know that the plant was known as the Flower of the Holy Night and it’s origin was Southern Mexico?

Sit back, grab a cuppa of something and I will tell you a story.

I love legends, don’t you?

Legend has it that a little girl, named Pepita from the village of Taxco del Alarcon, Mexico was on her way to church to give a gift to the Christ child on Christmas Eve.  

Only, she did not have a present or gift to give so she snatched up some “weeds” by the side of the road and when she presented her gift….they burst into the beautiful red color we see today on the Poinsettias.  

Hence the name Flower of the Holy Night, or in Spanish, Flores de Noche Buena because the flowers bloomed each year during the Christmas season. 

I like that story….sorta reminds one of the little drummer boy who only had his drum for a gift for the Christ Child.

I also like to read about the origins and naming of flowers and the Poinsettia has a very interesting beginning.

This plant has a long and interesting history.

It is native to Central America and for some reason it flourished in Southern Mexico. This perennial shrub plant can grow 10-15 feet tall. 

The Aztec Indians used the plant for medicinal and decorative purposes AND for dying textiles.  

You see they used the purplish dye from the plant’s bract’s for textiles and the milky white sap called latex, treated fevers.   

One day in 1828, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett (1779-1851) …who was the son of a French physician but also a lover of botany, sent some of the beautiful red plants from Taxco, Mexico to his hot houses on his Greenville and Charleston, South Carolina plantations.

There, he propagated the plants and sent them to friends and botanical gardens.

The name of the poinsettia was derived from Joel Poinsett’s name and you might also know that later, Joel Poinsett founded the Smithsonian Institution. 

Congress honored Joel Poinsett by declaring December 12 as National Poinsettia Day which commemorates the date of his death in 1851.  

The day was meant to honor Poinsett and encourage people to enjoy the beauty of this beautiful red holiday plant. 

So today’s tablescape honors the poinsettia plant by being my centerpiece and featured on my napkin rings and my salad plates.

The water glasses are red as well as the stemmed goblets.

The napkins are bright red with green laced edges and are encircled with the poinsettia napkin rings.

The flatware has red glass handles.

I have set the poinsettia salad plated on top of a red dinner plate.  

The dinner plate sits on a white charger.

As a little gift for the guests, I added a red wrapped present topped with a candy cane and placed them atop the poinsettia salad plates.

Side note: I have about 15 poinsettia plants sitting in a circle around my lanai tree.  

It is so pretty.

Do you like poinsettia plants? 

Have a great and blessed day.