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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Do’s and Don’ts for keeping your poinsettia beautiful
It is time for poinsettias! And
time for my annual article on
poinsettia care.
One of the
most delight
ful Christmas
decorations is
the poinsettia.
Few plants are
as snowy and
pleasing to the
eye as a bright,
well-grown
poinsettia.
I thought it
would be help
ful if I shared
Tim Lewis
Garden
Columnist
with you some of the aspects of
caring for your plant and, just for
fun, I have listed some poinsettia
trivia that you might find inter
esting.
First, here are some dos and
don’ts of poinsettia care:
DO place your plant where it
can receive indirect sunlight for
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You might have the Redneck Family of the Year if...
You’ve all heard redneck
jokes.
You know
the ones
that start
with, “You
might
be a red
neck if”.
Well, I’ve
always
thought
they were
?u i t e
un n y
HBbe .■» Jng
Angela
Lineberger
Me and the Boys
until we got one of those
daily calendars that have a
redneck joke for every day
of the year.
This year I have found
that a lot of those jokes
apply to my family. I’m sure
you’re sarcastically think
ing, “What a surprise!” Well,
at least six hours a day (the
brighter the better).
DO provide room temperatures
of between 65 and 70 degrees F,
if possible. Poinsettias will last
longer if kept on the cool side
ana the color of the bracts will be
enhanced as well.
DO water your plant when
(and only when) its soil feels dry
to the touch.
DON’T place plants near cold
drafts, heater vents, or fireplac
es.
DON’T expose plants to outside
temperatures below 50 degrees.
Poinsettias like it warm!
DON’T over water your plant
or allow it to sit in standing water.
Always allow the excess water to
drain completely through the
bottom of the pot.
DON’T fertilize your plant
when it is in bloom. Wait until
after the blooming season.
The Rainbow
Connection
The Rainbow House team held ther annual
recognition dinner on Monday, honoring volun
teeers and staff. Director Kemberlie Sanderson
and Board Chairman Priscilla Kennedy pre
sented the program. Rainbow House serves
abused and neglected children. Special honors
went to exiting board members, new members,
volunteers and staff memers Tian Foss,Linita
Berryman and Barbara Jernigan. Shown
above, from left, are Stephanie Whitson, Vice-
Chairman; Gary Gerard, Treasurer; Priscilla
Kennedy and Kemberlie Sanderson. At left is
Linita Berryman
yeah, I always thought that
we were a little redneck, but
now I know we could be the
poster children for the red
neck joke book.
One of the jokes that
really applies to me is “You
might be a redneck if you
like to go to Dollar General
because you don’t have to
dress up like you do to go to
Wal-Mart”.
My oldest son Tully tells
me that I look like a hobo
when I go to Dollar General.
I explain to him that I don’t
have to dress nicely to go
to Dollar General because I
don’t see that many people
there because it is small. I
will then tell him that whe
n I go to Wal-Mart I have
to dress better because it
is larger and I always see
I AMmELUBPi
BIRTHS
' Bt
Now for some facts about the poinsettia.
•The Latin name for the poinsettia is
Euphorbia pulcherrima.
•Poinsettias are native to Mexico.
•The poinsettia was brought to America in
someone I know. I never
thought that was the red
neck way of thinking but
now I have learned that it is.
Another redneck joke that
applies to us is “You might
be a redneck if you take a
load to the dump and bring
back more than you origi
nally took”.
My husband and the boys
took some recliners that tne
boys had literally destroyed
to the dump a few weeks
ago.
First of all, he loaded the
recliners on a trailer that he
pulled with the truck and
then he let the boys ride
in the recliners down the
driveway until he got to the
public road. They sat in the
recliners that were loaded
on the trailer screaming and
‘Day to day the* county way
Think roosters aren’t friendly? Think again.
Estelle and Big Red
Have you ever had a rooster sit in your lap hoping for a little motherly atttention?
Estelle Hunt has, and since she recently moved into a personal care home, she’s hoping
that her friend, Big Red, will be getting some personal care, too.
He wasn’t even HER rooster. He just “took a liking’’ to her, joining her on the bench
in her garden and climbing into her lap to be stroked on his feathery back while munch
ing on chicken food.
The way Hunt’s daughter, Mabel Collins tells it, the rooster wound up in her mother’s
Charles Street neighborhood when a youngster next door took him on a s a science
project. They thought at first that he was a she, but then the bird developed a big red
comb and showy tailfeathers, and got a name change. “Little Red Hen” became “Big
Red.”
There have been some suggestions that Big Red should wind up in a cooking pot,
but his friend won’t hear of it, and asks her daughter regularly, “Have you fed my
rooster?”
-Charlotte Perkins
■■ * msr W, J im 4i
Contributed
Big Red pays a visit to his good friend, Estelle Hunt.
yelling at the top of their
lungs. It was a sight to see.
Then, when they got to the
dump they saw some sofas
that they thought would just
be perfect in their playroom.
They tried to talk their dad
into bringing them home,
but thankfully he refused.
Another redneck joke that
qualifies us for redneck sta
tus is, “You have a complete
set of ‘Cool Whip’ bowls in
your kitchen.
Now I don’t know any
southerner that doesn’t have
second-hand ‘Cool Whip’
bowls. They are great for
leftovers, and are also per
fect to use when taking food
to someone who is sick since
they don’t have to worry
about returning your dishes
to you.
the 1820’s by Dr. Joel Robert
Poinsett, U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico. He returned to his
home in Charleston, S.C. with
enough cuttings to begin their
cultivation.
•The poinsettia has many
names, some of which are “flame
leaf,” “flower of the holy night,”
and “crown of the Andes.”
•California is the top poin
settia producing state. The
Paul EcTke Ranch in Encinitas,
California grows over 80% of
the poinsettias in the U.S. for
the wholesale market.
•December 12 is National
Poinsettia Day.
•Poinsettia branches and
leaves ooze a milky sap which
is not considered poisonous. An
Ohio State study showed that
a 50-pound child who ate 500
bracts (colored leaves) devel
oped only a slight stomach
ache.
One redneck joke shows
that we come from a long
line of rednecks. It is “You
hit a deer with your car - on
Eurpose”. Well, my hus
and’s grandmother didn’t
hit deer on purpose, she hit
possums. She would veer
off the road and even into
a ditch to hit possums. She
said they ate her chicken
eggs.
And the redneck joke that
qualifies us for “Redneck
Family of the Year” is “The
receptionist at your place
of business checks the rat
traps daily”. Well, we don’t
have a place of business, but
when we built our house
and moved to the country
we obviously displaced a lot
of mice.
We found that our house
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2007 ♦
•80% of Americans prefer red
poinsettias; 8% prefer white
and 6% prefer pink.
•Poinsettias are the best sell
ing flowering potted plant in
the U.S. In 2004, over 61 mil
lion plants wer6 sold.
Eiyoy your poinsettias this
Christmas season!
Tim Lewis is a Georgia Green
Industry Association Certified
Plant Professional, garden
ing writer, former Perry High
School horticulture instructor,
and former horticulturalist at
Henderson Village and Houston
Springs. He and his wife,
Susan, own and operate Lewis
Farms Nursery located on Hwy
26 two miles east of Elko, where
he was bom and raised. He can
be reached at(478)954-1507 or
timlewis@alltl. net.
and shop were literally crawl
ing with mice. My husband
put a bounty on the mice.
He gave the boys a dime for
every mouse they caught in
the shop and a quarter for
every mouse they caught in
the house.
They eagerly checked
their mousetraps every
morning before school and
kept a running total of how
much money their dad owed
them. So, we might not
be real classy, but as far as
rednecks go, we sure have a
lot of fun!
Angela Lineberger lives in
Perry with her husband Kerry,
and five boys, Tully, age 15,
and Tal, Hunter, Ben, and
Luke, age 12.