Thank poinsettia guy for beauties we see during holidays

By Carol Swartz

OSU Ext. master gardener volunteer

Annually, Dec. 12 is National Poinsettia Day. A day to celebrate this beautiful flower and the joy it provides us during the holiday season.

The traditional poinsettia offers a variety of colors and sizes to grace our homes, offices, churches, and is often the centerpiece of holiday displays. It is a native of mountains on the Pacific side of Mexico and Guatemala and is in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae).

Have you ever wondered who was behind the development of the poinsettia as we know it today?

For more than 75 years, the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, Calif. (San Diego County), has been the premier grower of these stunning beauties. Living on the same road as the “Ranch,” I drove by fields of mother plants every day. These fields are the plants from which cuttings were taken and sent to growers worldwide as starters for the holiday season. Many cultivars grew in greenhouses across from our home.

Franz Freuhwirth was the chief hybridizer for the ranch for more than 30 years. The iconic red poinsettia that continues to outsell all other poinsettias was one of the plants he hybridized. His story is one of luck and the American dream.

Franz left his native Hungary as a young boy during World War II, settling in Germany. In 1960 he, his German wife, Lilo, and daughter, Monika, emigrated to the United States. Franz was living in Oceanside, Calif., and working in a tailor’s shop, when his customer, Paul Ecke Jr. (formally trained at Ohio State University), offered Lilo a job as his family’s housekeeper/nanny. Ecke also saw potential in Franz’s intelligence and creativity.

The poinsettia plants Ecke was growing were fragile, tender with light green foliage, flexible stems, and had short life spans. Under Ecke’s guidance, Franz helped the Ecke Ranch develop the first marketable, long-lasting variety. This allowed the ranch to convert field-grown plants to greenhouses, opening up a whole new marketing route. Franz was persistent with breeding, and received many patents for countless varieties of poinsettia plants we now appreciate. To his perseverance and Ecke’s confidence in Franz’s natural ability to research and develop, we owe gratitude.

Franz helped revolutionize commercial growing techniques, developing and perfecting the way cuttings are distributed throughout the world. He traveled and lectured at universities, meeting with staff at OSU, Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center, and the USDA. In recognition of his plant-breeding accomplishments, Franz received the prestigious Luther Burbank Award from the American Horticultural Society in 2003. When you purchase or see one of these plant wonders, Franz should be thanked.

New technological abilities no longer require vast fields and large greenhouses. The ranch has been undergoing significant business and operational changes, but continues to provide great poinsettia genetics, technical support and consumer insight to the growing industry.

Visit http://go.osu.edu/poinsettiaday for information on the poinsettia and its history.

Visit http://go.osu.edu/poinsettiacare for tips on caring for your poinsettia.

Visit http://go.osu.edu/poinsettiachoice to watch a video on choosing the best poinsettia.