The Poinsettia Tradition
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You would think, after reading that most of our American holiday traditions stemmed from Europe, that it would only stand to reason that the tradition of placing Poinsettia flowers around our homes would also come from that region.
Well, if you thought that, you would be 100%. . . . .Wrong!
Actually, the Poinsettia tradition came all the way from. . . .Mexico!
That’s right. Mexico is the correct answer.
Our American tradition of displaying Poinsettias around our homes was the brain child of none other than Joel Roberts Poinsett. I mean, check out the name! You knew it was coming 
.
If it were not for Joel R. Poinsett’s love of botany, we may have never even known about this beautiful and festive flower at all. In 1825, Joel Robers Poinsett was appointed to the prestigious title of the United States Ambassador to Mexico.
On one of his journeys to Mexico, he discovered the vibrantly red flower. He immediately fell in love with it. Since he was a practicing botanist, he shipped some of them back to his home in Greenville, South Carolina.
After a short time of cultivating the flowers inside his hothouses, he began sending them to his friends and family as a Christmas gift.
Today we continue this Poinsettia tradition by displaying them in our own homes or we give them as a nice gesture/gift to friends or family.
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Filed Under: Christmas Traditions
