Poinsettia in Cyprus

Once again, our Christmas poinsettia is still thriving despite the fact that Lent begins (for Protestants) tomorrow, and (for the Orthodox) yesterday.

Here's how it looked when we first brought it home in December:


Each year since we've been in this house we've been given or bought a poinsettia shortly before Christmas. I don't know what made us put it on a table in front of a window in the living room the first time. We're not good with house plants in general, but I suppose I saw a space and plonked it down. And we didn't think of a better place, so there it stayed... and stayed... and, to our amazement, was still looking attractive in March.

So, having found what is apparently the ideal spot for Cyprus poinsettias, we've used exactly the same place each year.

Here's how the current one looked about a month ago:


And here's now it looks now:


The newer leaves are coming in green, and some of the red leaves have curled up and dropped off. It's decidedly past its brightest and best. But still an attractive plant, which I hope will last at least until the summer, based on previous experience.