Poinsettia Day

Poinsettia Day is December 12th

Poinsettia Day celebrates the classic winter plant often found around Christmas time. The date of this holiday coincides with the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who discovered the plant in Mexico in 1828 and gave it its English name. The fact that the date is so close to Christmas is a complete coincidence, but the Poinsettia or La Flor de la Nochebuena as it is known in Mexico, has been connected to Christmas in Mexico since long before Poinsett’s discovery. The legend is that a young girl was going to see the newborn Jesus Christ, but had no gift to give. An angel told her that any gift given with love would be valuable. So she picked weeds from the side of the road and they changed from simple weeds to the beautiful poinsettia we know and love today, a gift worthy of the savior himself.