For Sheila Scolaro, a 21-year-old plant science junior at UF, one of the best parts of the holidays isn’t decorating a Christmas tree.
It’s watching thousands of green poinsettias burst into a sea of red, pink, orange, white and burgundy.
UF’s Environmental Horticulture Club will host its 17th annual Poinsettia Show and Sale from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at Fifield Hall on Hull Road.
The sale will feature 10 benches displaying a total of 4,000 poinsettia plants, with average prices falling between $10 to $23, Scolaro said. The presidential poinsettias, which are about 4 feet tall, will sell for up to $75.
More than 30 types of poinsettias will be offered at the sale, Scolaro said, and a display will give customers ideas on ways to use the different-sized plants.
She said her favorite part of working with the plants is watching them change color.
“Within about a week’s time, the greenhouse goes from a sea of green to a palette of colors,” Scolaro said.
Club president Maxwell Mercer, a 20-year-old plant science junior, said the club receives poinsettia liners in early August from breeders in California, Germany and Holland.
“Students prepare the plants by potting, pinching, watering and spacing the poinsettias,” Mercer said.
The proceeds from the sale will go toward an international trip for the students in the Environmental Horticulture Club, Mercer said.
The profits will also help students attend a national agriculture competition at Auburn University next year.
Mercer said he is excited to talk to customers and tell them about the work the club has put into producing the show and sale. He said the sale will show people more than 97 varieties of poinsettias ranging in color, shape and size.
The plants bring “warmth and holiday spirit into one’s home or yard,” Mercer said.
