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Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

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May Dreams Gardens

Poinsettia Quiz

December 9, 2007 By Carol Michel 19 Comments

Many people express surprise that my potted poinsettias are not real plants. They are fakes, artificial, silk, whatever term you’d like to use, and thus have been “blooming” reliably every December for, gosh I don’t know, at least five years maybe ten.

I don’t know if people are surprised because the poinsettias look so real or if they are surprised because I, a known gardener, would have a fake plant.

My reason for having these fake poinsettias is because where I have them, on a fireplace hearth, is no place for a real plant. I’d have to move them every time there was a fire going in the fireplace and there isn’t enough light there, anyway.

There wasn’t enough light for anything today. It was so gloomy, rainy that I looked forward to sunset because then at least it would just be dark, but we’ll discuss that some other time.

It was a good day to go to some local greenhouses to check out their poinsettia displays, which is just what I did, but more on that later, too. (The picture above is of some of the poinsettias I saw at one of those greenhouses.)

For now, how about a quiz on poinsettias? Can you tell if a poinsettia is real or fake? Even Jodi at Bloomingwriter noted, “In recent years ‘silk’ poinsettias and other flowers have become so lifelike that it’s hard to tell the difference until you touch one.”

Here’s the quiz…

Poinsettia No. 1 – Real or fake?

Poinsettia No. 2 – Real or fake?
Are you sure?
One last one…

Poinsettia no. 3 – Real or fake?

Leave your answers in the comments. I’ll reveal the answers tomorrow and also tell you more about two places where poinsettias, real poinsettias, are on display in Indianapolis.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: holidays, indoor gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stunned Donor says

    December 9, 2007 at 9:57 pm

    One and three are real, two is fake. In fact two is so obviously fake that I’m worried you’re tricking me with one of the others. I won’t sleep tonight because of it!

    Reply
  2. Nickie says

    December 9, 2007 at 10:00 pm

    I agree with steven!!! 2 is very fake.

    Reply
  3. Lisa at Greenbow says

    December 9, 2007 at 10:01 pm

    Tee hee hee… this is difficult. I am always nervous when taking a test. I say 1 & 2 Fake, #3 is real. I can’t wait to see the answer.

    Reply
  4. dilly dalley doolittle says

    December 9, 2007 at 11:43 pm

    Owwhh. How spooky. OK – here’s my guess. One is fake, two is real, three – not sure which way to jump – I’ll go real. How much fun is this? What a laugh.

    Reply
  5. Robin's Nesting Place says

    December 10, 2007 at 12:05 am

    One and three are real, two is fake. It was only obvious to me when I enlarged the photo, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to tell for sure.

    Reply
  6. Julie says

    December 10, 2007 at 12:12 am

    Hi there! What a fun quiz! I am going to have to take a guess! I am going to guess that all 3 are fake????? LOL…I know I am worng!

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    December 10, 2007 at 12:24 am

    Ok. Number 2: Fake
    Number 3: Real
    Number 1: Undecided but I will lean toward fake.

    Reply
  8. growingagardenindavis says

    December 10, 2007 at 1:27 am

    I’ll agree with 2 being fake…and I think the other two (numbers 1 and 3) are real. I am unable to keep a poinsettia looking good for more than a few weeks…the fake one is tempting…but we get e free poinsettia from our local grocer each year so I’m sticking with that.

    Reply
  9. Molly says

    December 10, 2007 at 1:59 am

    I’m guessing this is a trick quiz and all three are fake, although 1 and 3 are the best fakes I’ve ever seen.

    Reply
  10. Mr. McGregor's Daughter says

    December 10, 2007 at 3:07 am

    I did the same thing that Robin did – is enlarging the photos cheating? real/fake/real

    Reply
  11. Christopher C. NC says

    December 10, 2007 at 4:30 am

    Before I read the comments and enlarged the photos I decided
    1 = real
    2 = fake, it has a loose thread
    3 = real

    Low light helps keep people quessing.

    Reply
  12. Christopher C. NC says

    December 10, 2007 at 4:32 am

    Guessing again

    Reply
  13. Alyssa says

    December 10, 2007 at 4:47 am

    I think No.1 and 2 are fake. Three looks real. But than again . . .

    Reply
  14. LostRoses says

    December 10, 2007 at 5:28 am

    I think number 3 is the only real one, but I agree that most of them look so life-like it’s hard to tell anymore. And Carol, you could go buy one of those glittery ones, you know. Hee hee.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous says

    December 10, 2007 at 7:32 am

    Chigiy at Gardener’s Anonymous said:

    I have this terrible feeling that I’m going to be tricked.
    Here goes, 1&2 are fake and 3 is real.

    Reply
  16. Kylee Baumle says

    December 10, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    One and three are real, two is fake. I can see part of a leaf that’s missing on number three. Enlarging does help!
    I have a fake one I use every year, too. Mine’s ivory though.

    Reply
  17. Anonymous says

    December 10, 2007 at 9:35 pm

    Poinsettias always look fake to me, so I’m at a loss here. 2 is definetely fake; of the others I’m not sure.
    Neat idea, though, Carol.

    Reply
  18. Unknown says

    December 11, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    Late weighing in here…if it’s not Blogger being stupid, it’s my ISP becoming bogged down. I’d say that numbers 1 and 3 are real and #2 is synthetic. Certainly you have valid reasons for using silk ones where you do (I use some of them too, and for the same reasons.) But I do love the real ones–so long as they’re not sprayed or dyed blue….

    Reply
  19. Mary says

    December 11, 2007 at 7:23 pm

    Without remembering the answers, I say Fake, Fake, Fake.

    Reply

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