It is Thanksgiving Weekend and everywhere you go you see signs of the Holiday Season.  Christmas lights are going up, Holiday music is on the radio, and everywhere there are red, white, and pink poinsettia, but mainly red.

For Some, Poinsettia Have Always been Part of the Holidays
Yes, the red poinsettia has been as much a part of Holiday as Turkey for Thanksgiving but it may surprise you to know that it wasn’t always.  Not until a very savvy horticulturist, Paul Ecke, Jr. by name, was determined to "put 2 poinsettia in everyone’s home" and, then, did so.

But Not for Others
If you were to travel to Australia you might find it a bit offsetting to see red poinsettia used at Shopping Mall and Office Lobby alike in the middle of June.  There, the poinsettia is just another blooming plant and has not much to do with Holiday. 

So How Did Paul Ecke, Jr. Achieve His Goal?
By taking advantage of the great new, must have, entertainment product that was a must in every American home in the 1960"s–the color television set.  Paul offerred national tv shows like the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson and the Today Show, hundreds of live poinsettia for their sets.  They loved the idea and accepted his gift.  So it was that each year millions and millions of Americans switched on their televisions and for the days before Christmas had all these beautful, red, plants in front of them. 

"Gimme One of those Red Plants I Saw On the Today Show"
What the Public saw, the Public wanted.  They asked for "that pretty red plant" at their grocery, their florist, their garden center.  Within just a few years, the poinsettia had become the Holiday plant.

We Owe Paul Ecke, Jr. a Great Deal of Thanks
For most interiorscapers Poinsettia are a pain in the neck.  Easily damaged, finicky about water and temperature, by the end of the season we are happy bto pitch them.  But let us not forget, it is because of the Poinsettia that most interiorscapers got into the Holiday business in the first place.  Your client saw you bringing in the points and said, "Hey, by the way, can you bring me a wreath for the front door?"  And, so your Holiday Business was born. 

Paul Ecke, Jr.  Inducted Into the Hall of Fame in 2006
It is fitting that Paul Ecke, Jr. was inducted this year.  He was a visionary and we, interiorscapers, have a great deal to thank him for.  He was the man who put  two (2) Poinsettia into the home, and office, of every American.

For more about PaulEcke Jr. and the Ecke Ranch, log on to www.ecke.com.