Larry Hurley’s Photo Of The Week: Poinsettias at Behnke’s Largo

December 4, 2024
Larry Hurley
Christmas, House Plants
0 Comments

Poinsettias at Behnke’s Largo growing location, November 20,2004

In our prime growing days, Behnke’s sold around 55,000 poinsettias a year, most of which we grew ourselves. This photo is part of one of the three greenhouses we had at Largo, all of which were full of poinsettias.

We grew mostly red, of course, but we also grew thousands of white and pink, and every year had several hundred each of other many interesting varieties, with names like ‘Monet’, ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Burgundy.’ We found that the odd colors sold best in the first couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, and once Christmas got closer, people mostly wanted the red ones. We assumed that much of this revolved around people buying them for gifts, and sticking with the “safe” choice.

We sold a lot of “points” through our retail garden centers, but many more went out at discounted prices to churches, institutions and fundraisers. Imagine the complexity of selecting, sleeving, and delivering all of those plants in a four week time period. We might have a dozen trucks out on the road at once. Behnke’s slogan was “Known for Quality Plants.” And that was certainly true of our poinsettias, which, in my opinion, were the best on the market.

Remember, when you buy your poinsettias this year, that it is important to unpack them from their sleeves as soon as you get them home. Plants and fruit, (e.g., apples) produce small amounts of a chemical gas called ethylene. If the ethylene is trapped in the sleeve with the poinsettia for more than a few hours, the leaves become droopy and the plant looks “tired,” and they don’t grow out of it. It’s one reason that cheap poinsettias in some box stores look like they need water even if the soil is moist. They have probably been in a box or a sleeve in a warehouse for longer than they should be. Also, remember that poinsettia stems are brittle and break easily, so exercise care when you are removing the sleeve!

May your poinsettias never droop, and I hope your holiday season is a pleasant one.

Poinsettias at Behnke's Largo growing location, November 20,2004

Larry Hurley

Larry Hurley worked at Behnke Nurseries from 1984 until the business was composted in 2019, primarily with the perennial department in growing, buying and sales.

Before landing at Behnke’s, he worked as a technician in a tissue culture lab, a houseplant “expert” at a florist shop, and inventory controller at a wholesale nursery in Dallas. With this and that, ten years passed.

When his wife Carolyn accepted a position at Georgetown University, Larry was hired at Behnke’s for the perennial growing department and garden center at Behnke’s Largo location.

In 2021, Larry and Carolyn moved back to Wisconsin to be closer to family and further from traffic. After 37 years in a shaded yard in Maryland, he is happy to have a sunny lot where he can grow all sorts of new perennials, if only he can keep the rabbits at bay. He also enjoys cooking, traveling, and the snowblower.