Poinsettia Trials

Breeder:

Paul Ecke Ranch

Summary:

This is the brightest orange-red cultivar available to date, more orange than Cortez Electric Fire. The upright bracts are elongated and a bit narrow, such that a fair amount of green shows through. In warm climates, the first bracts have a slightly pale red color and then the true orange color shows with subsequent bract development. The foliage is dark green and plants are low to moderate vigor. This is a generally easy cultivar to grow. The question with any novelty is marketing – this color would make it a great Thanksgiving plant, especially well-suited for early-season displays. Some are even looking at it for Halloween. However, it is naturally a late season cultivar, so the plants would have to be black-clothed for early sales. In heat stress trials, Orange Spice has developed misshapen leaves under the highest temperatures. At NCSU, Orange Spice looked great when combined with yellow foliaged plants such as vinca Illumination or crotons.