Gardening Question of the Week: Where Can I Find Poinsettia Seeds?

No, I’m not pushing the seasons here. Tonyone wrote into the About Gardening Forum asking about a source for poinsettia seeds and I haven’t found one. Has anyone grown poinsettia from seeds? I know most of the flashy new plants out at Christmas time are hybridized and probably propagated from cuttings, but there must be seed out there somewhere for the basic red poinsettia. If you know of a source, please let us know. And if you have any tips for saving your own poinsettia seed and growing poinsettia from seed, we’d love to hear that too. Thanks.

And just in case you were hardy enough to save last year’s poinsettia and want to try and get it to bloom again this Christmas, it’s time to start sequestering your plant in total darkness. Here’s what you need to do to force your poinsettia back into bloom.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.