Poinsettia Bonsai

Robert sent me a nice glazed low round pot for Father's Day, June 21, 2020, and I put a white poinsettia in it as a bonsai. Poinsettia are known as favorite houseplants as decorations for Christmas due to their bright red leaf-flowers. There are also pink and white varieties, but poinsettias are not generally known for use as bonsai. Not wanting to discard poinsettias after the winter holidays, I have been experimenting with poinsettia as bonsai for several years. While quite difficult, they are not impossible and will reward patience. Be careful, however, as they have tender roots and can be easy to kill, so go slow in root reducion.

Here's the pot. It came with a round wooden base.

This is the white poinsettia. It has been growing in this concrete pot for a year in half sun in my back yard.

The white poinsettia after pruning.

The bonsai after potting. It should be blooming nicely by Christmastime.

Three weeks later, the poinsettia bonsai is covered in new growth.

Poinsettias have been falsely rumored to be toxic, but that's not the case, so have fun with your poinsettia's after Christmas this year. What I generally do is put them in larger pots and let them get acclimated to my yard for a year or two before beginning bonsai training.

Saturday, August 22: two months later and the bonsai poinsettia is doing well.

Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com

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Last updated July 15, 2020 by Dr. Rick Wagner. Text and images Copyright © 2020, unless otherwise attributed, all rights reserved.