Source: Scott McElwain, 785-532-1397, mcelwain@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Tim Lindemuth, 785-532-5061, tlindemuth@k-state.com

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010

50 HOLIDAY POINSETTIA VARIETIES OFFERED AT K-STATE PLANT SALE

MANHATTAN -- Nearly 50 varieties of poinsettias will be displayed and offered to the public as a fundraiser for the Kansas State University Gardens.

The flowering plants will be on sale 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20; Wednesday, Dec. 1; and Saturday, Dec. 4, at the Quinlan Visitor Center, 1500 Denison Ave.

Horticulture students in professor Kimberly William's Greenhouse Operations Management class grew the poinsettias as a hands-on lab project.

Williams described the flowers, which are often used in holiday decorating, as "everything from the favorite red, to peach, white, pink, speckled and bi-colored."

Domestic and international poinsettia breeding companies provided the cultivar trials to the students to grow in the teaching space of the Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center greenhouses on campus.

Volunteers with the Friends of the KSU Gardens organization will staff the three sale dates. Gardens director Scott McElwain said 6.5-inch plants are $10 each or six for $50; and 10-inch centerpieces are $15 each.