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The poinsettia, or Euphorbla pul- cherrima â€"- whether red, white or pink â€" has become synonymous with Christmas. The actual poinsettia flowers are yellow. small and inconspicuous. The colorful display is provided by the leaf-like bracts. These plants do best with good light exposure and a tem- perature of about 18 deg. C. Temperâ€" atures below 15 deg. C., drafts and allowing the roots to dry out can cause yellowing and dropping of the bottom leaves. After Christmas, your poinsettia may be carried over to the next year. Rest the plant in a cool location and let the soil dry out â€" but do not let the stems become so dry as to cause shrivelling of the bark. During the rest period, cut back the plant partway. After the rest period, place the plant in a larger pot, water and place in good light in a Horticulture Ruth Friendship temperature of 18 - 20 deg, C. It can be placed outside by planting the pot in your garden. It you have kept your poinsettia from last Christmas, re- member to bring it inside before it is subjected to a frost. Poinsettias are photoperiodic, which means they are sensitive to the number of hours of light or darkness they receive. Poinsettias are short day plants, meaning they require a short- er day length to induce flowering. In the first week of October. your plant should be subjected to long nights (short days). Flower buds will be formed if the plant is in darkness ,,.p0insettias need TLC to thrive for more than 12 hour». so each day at 5 pin plate the plant in mmplete darkness until it a.m., then place ll \shcre it will rcccnc llx usual amount of sunlight. Temperatures during the long nights should be between 61 and (17 deg. I“. It will take approximately 1') tit-elm until the luallikc bracts “ill begin to change color, At this time the plant can be e\posed to normal day length During the light treatment, ll'lE poinsettia should be watered when the soil surface becomes dry. Allin». ing the plant to will can result in leal drop. Keep a good l0 cl oi humidii} indoors to preient the leaf edges from drying. As “llh most plants. you should watch carefully lor ll‘lsuc‘l and disease problems and aioid dralts and esccssixe heat, Ruth Friendship is the Horticulture Specialist with the Rural Organizaâ€" tions and Services Branch. FWIC Convention was ‘unqualified success’ Now that our FWIC Convention is over. we can look back and mentally assess it. There is no doubt that it was an unqualified success. The tremen~ dous enthusiasm of all the delegates at the convention also came through in the comments on the evaluation sheets. A convention of the size of ours witha daily attendance of from 1 ,100 to 1,300 delegates took a great deal 0f organization and involved the participation and co-operation of hundreds of people. Sogt'orali those who in any way contributed to its. success â€" o the planning committee who did ’iegtcell‘ent job: I no the programs; taff who worked hard FWIC Report Bernice Noblitl - those who sold sales articles; - those who sent articles for the gift sales table; 0 those who sold gift sales articles; o those who gave the men such an enjoyable time during the pro- grams; a the members who prepared such delicious meals and offered warm hospitality for the Board and the bus loads on Ontario Day; 0 the volunteers who “stood in the wings” waiting to be called it necessary and when called came so willingly and cheerfully; - those who attended the convention as delegates or otherwise who of- fered hand of friendship and good will to others and who will share their experiences and inlormaiion with W.l. members at home; 0 and to all of you who contributed in (my way â€" THANKS. Many. especially first time dele- gates, mentioned that FWIC no“ means much more to them than it did formerly and that they are looking forward to the next convention. That is one of the most important high- lights in my opinion. Before I close. I want to thank Ontario members sincerely for thc wholehearted support they have al- ways given me and for the warmr hearted expressions of appreciation in the presentation at the banquet of the provincial life membership and the bouquet of gorgeous red roses. You have been most generous and kind. Bernice B. Noblill is past president of the FWIC. 23