Janice Schmidt, of Baton Rouge, thoughtfully rates each of 18 varieties included on a consumer survey at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens annual poinsettia show and sale on Dec. 5 in Baton Rouge. (Photo by Rick Bogren)

Visitors had 24 varieties to choose from at the poinsettia show and sale on Dec. 5 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden in Baton Rouge. (Photo by Rick Bogren)

Jeff Kuehny, resident director of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden, holds examples of the poinsettia varieties on display at the annual poinsettia show and sale on Dec. 5 in Baton Rouge. (Photo by Rick Bogren)

News Release Distributed 12/08/14

BATON ROUGE, La. – Scores of visitors prowled through a greenhouse at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens on Dec. 5, selecting poinsettias to purchase and voting for their favorites among 18 varieties on display.

The poinsettia show has been presented for the past 20 years, according to Jeff Kuehny, resident director at the Botanic Gardens. The annual event provides poinsettia growers and the public with an opportunity to view some of the latest poinsettia varieties and to see the results of LSU AgCenter research with the plants.

The show comprised 2,200 plants of 24 varieties that were grown during the fall in AgCenter greenhouses, said research associate Wanda Ellis. The display of plants for sale “are a rainbow of color,” she said. “We have pink, white, bicolor, burgundy and of course red.”

The plants were grown from cuttings acquired in August, mostly from nurseries in Broussard, Louisiana, and planted in the AgCenter greenhouses for evaluation. The varieties are patented, and the AgCenter pays royalties for each plant, Ellis said.

Louisiana has about 300 commercial poinsettia growers, Kuehny said. “They produce florist-quality plants that are sold through florists and nurseries.”

Visitors rate each selected variety on a seven-point scale from “strongly do not like” to “strongly like.” The evaluations help growers select plants for production next year, he said.