Phyllis Hultman of Hollidaysburg picks out a poinsettia at Piney Creek Greenhouse outside of Martinsburg on Friday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Poinsettias — those often red-leafed harbingers of Christmas — are growing in popularity, and local florists and greenhouses expect to see a strong turnout of buyers looking to brighten the holidays this year.

Lucille Martin, co-owner of Piney Creek Greenhouses and Floral in Martinsburg, said she expects a good year as people are still not traveling as much due to the ongoing pandemic.

“Last year was really good,” she said. “It was our best year.”

She wasn’t alone in feeling the year went well.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, more than 35.4 million poinsettias were sold in 2020, with a value of $157,241,000, up 3% from 2019.

Pennsylvania ranks No. 1 in the number of poinsettia producers but ranks sixth in the number of plants sold.

In 2020, Pennsylvania produced 2,254,000 plants with a value of $8,174,000, NASS reported.

Andrea Hammel, owner of Peterman’s Flower Shop, Altoona, said growers are again projecting a large increase in sales this year.

“We had to pre-order early, all poinsettias and Christmas cactuses,” she said.

Debbie Arnsparger, owner of Creative Expressions Florist, Altoona, said she has received a lot of phone calls about Christmas already and thinks the outlook for florists and greenhouses is “very promising” this year.

Arnsparger expects her business to do well this holiday season and said last year “was crazy.”

“I bought less immediately, but as time went on, I was buying continuously to keep up,” she said. “I was surprised how well we did here. I was pleasantly surprised.”

The Society of American Florists reports that Christmas/Hanukkah is the No. 1 floral-buying holiday of the year and that at the top of the list is the poinsettia, the highest selling potted plant in the United States.

But those heading out to buy the flowers this year will notice a price increase, business owners said, though they believe it doesn’t make the plants unaffordable.

“Everything keeps going up, we have to keep climbing up the ladder, too,” said Lorraine Martin, co-owner of Spring Farm Greenhouses, Martinsburg.

“We had trouble getting things like pots to come in,” she explained, likely due to supply chain shortages and disruptions.

“Prices have gone up. For example the 6½-inch poinsettias, the largest we sell, went up a dollar, the smaller ones went up about 25 percent,” Martin said.

Donna Leidig of Leidig’s Farm, Tyrone, said prices went up a little there, too.

“Heating costs are up, and the pots for the poinsettias are more expensive,” Leidig said. “Everything has increased.”

Arnsparger said her prices have gone up, as well, though “not tremendously, they are not unaffordable.”

While red remains the favorite color among buyers, poinsettias come in many colors.

“There are close to 50 varieties,” Hammel said, noting Peterman’s sticks with five or six varieties in different sizes.

“They range from marble, to burgundy, to red and to white,” Hammel said.

Red is popular because “the color is so fantastic, it has been a big part of American decor for so many years,” she said, noting the red goes well with holiday trimmings.

Bright red is the No. 1 seller for Lorraine Martin, but over the past years, there have been a lot of new colors and better varieties, she said.

“Red is popular, but they come in vibrant pinks and colors not seen before,” Lucille Martin said, adding that Piney Creek glitters and dyes poinsettias so there are a lot of different options, too, such as purple and blue.

For a plant that is native to the rocky canyons of Guatemala and Mexico and was cultivated by the Mayans and Aztecs, poinsettias have been embraced by consumers in the United States ever since Joel Robert Poinsett, the nation’s first ambassador to Mexico, introduced them to the country in 1827.

“Poinsettias are just a big American thing,” Lorraine Martin said.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.