Poinsettia 003

Well done for saving it for a whole year. I will be trying to do that with the ones I have bought. I talk gaily of bracts and suddenly realised I did not know what they are or their purpose. On Daves garden website it goes in to quite a lot of detail explaining that they are not leaves although they can be leaf like. Neither are they flowers but they may be there to protect the buds or to attract pollinators to the insignificant flowers by their bright colours. If you want more detail here is the URL of the site I looked at. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3156/ if you left click and highlight the above url it will appear in your browser window. Click on search and it should take you straight to the page I read.

I just remembered the person taking us around did say water when almost dry (pot will be light weight) by standing in water for a while. DO IT IN THE MORNING because at night the temperature does drop and they won't like the combination of cold and wet.

Shelia I did a posting a long time ago of bracts on primulas,they sometimes take on the same colour as the flower.And of course the Hydrangea are a kind of Bract the flower being insignificant

Thank Brian I had forgotten the hydrangea flowers are bracts too. I'll have a look and see if I can find your earlier blog. I get all mixed up with terms which does not usually matter until you want to know something for a specific reason.

Shelia
The whole thing can become quite complex ,in the case of the primroses (will post a picture) they complement the flower.If we look at Hellebore's the outer coloured part we see are not petals but Sepals thats why they stay on the stem for months after the flower has gone.To see the petals you have to look hard ,they are small almost insignificant to the look of the flower set right down in the middle.
The sepals purpose is to protect the flower while it's forming,Now why it has been possible create doubles from what is really a shell I can not imagain.
B

Thank you for taking the time to explain that Brian. As you say it is a mystery that there are more than the strictly needed number of sepals. I was first introduced to sepals and tiny flowers when I was enthusing about my Haquetia Epipactis by my daughter in law.