This year our poinsettia lost it's last red leaf just as it started budding up for the winter blooms!

It is more important than I thought to keep it pinched and trimmed into a good 'bushy' shape - this year's plant is lopsided because we didn't want to prune off the blooms

Hi JuneBug, Nice to see you here. This is the first year I have bought a poinsettia for awhile. Here in FL they will grow outside, so I plan on putting it out after it blooms.

I don't have space indoors to keep a poinsettia year round, so not sure about timing for pinching. At the growers, they would start with plugs mid July. Pinching was late August, well before any bracts form. Some of the earlier varieties would start to show colour end of October and were typically ready by mid November. Many of the later varieties were ready late November.

My sister buys me a large poinsettia each Christmas season. I keep it on the kitchen table which doesn't provide it with adequate light and it slowly drops a few leaves until it looses it charm come January when I discard it. I have amaryllis and African violets for color for those drab months until spring when things start to bloom out side again. To every thing there is a season.............

Wahoo.....the poinsettia season has started. I seen some nice ones in the store today