The garden writer Sarah Raven wrote an article in The Daily Telegraph's Gardening section about poinsettias suggesting that they should "come in from the cold". She also say that they have a "fuddy-duddy" image and have been massively overused but felt that it was now time to reappraise them.
Some of these reasons were that it's an inexpensive plant and most of the plants sold in UK supermarkets are British grown.
Last month the Poinsettia International had a press party where several big names in the florist world like Paula Pryke, Rebel Rebel, Simon Lycett and Ian Lloyd created quite elaborate arrangements using almost exclusively poinsettia. They showed ways of using the plant in contemporary and creative ways both as potted plants and as cut flowers.
I found these miniature red poinsettia at my local DIY store and bought a few for very little money. They're only about 15 cm tall and came in little silver pots.
I thought they would look great down the centre of a table. They are low enough for people to see each other across the table and they don't take up a lot of space.
As the plants already came in their own little silver pots I didn't feel I needed to re-pot them. All I had to do was to add some more shiny silver bling; like the vintage baubles, some votive candles and a strand of Christmas lights.
I've used a wide red ribbon but you can use strips of red fabric instead or a red runner down the centre of the table.
I love the reflections of the red ribbons, the Christmas lights and the candles in all the shiny surfaces.
What do you think of poinsettias - love them or hate them?