Where's Marty? Checking out the poinsettias at Bell Nursery
Hi Everyone!
Monday's "Where's Marty?" was all about the Christmas vibe. And it was all about this picture:
Look close and what do you see? Poinsettias. Thousands of poinsettias. And this is just one greenhouse at Bell Nursery in Burtonsville, our hosts this morning.
Bell has been around a long time, as long as I have been at WJZ. Years ago I did one of my "Mondobasso" features about how the traditional Christmas flower gets its start not to long after July 4. Why not revisit something that was visually just cool? How they grow is just as interesting.
Bell grows and sells millions of plants and flowers around the Mid-Atlantic alone, and the reach of this hometown gem is coast to coast. They are a very big deal. A big enough deal that they supply over 500 Home Depot garden centers with poinsettias. 500!
This morning we got a history lesson about this plant from Mexico, how it is now become a highbred, and how it likes dark while growing. We were told that right now is the perfect time of the year for the amount of light and dark needed to finish out the process and turn these thousands of green plants into the beautiful red you expect to see around the holidays.
I just expanded a part of the above picture to show you how that "turning red" process is beginning. Look at the branches:
As always, check out the interviews for more information not written here. But do understand that in the world of plants, the Christmas crunch is already on!
Marty B!
