SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Master Gardeners of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is now taking orders for its annual poinsettia sale.
Proceeds from the sale benefit the Master Gardener Scholarship program, said sale coordinators.
“For the past six years, Bexar County Master Gardeners has offered scholarships to students majoring in horticulture or some other aspect of the green industry and attending a Texas college or university,” said association president Lisa Nixon. “The annual poinsettia sale and other plant sales throughout the year provide funding for those scholarships.”
Bexar County Master Gardeners unload poinsettias for their annual Christmas plant sale.
(Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
Nixon said each year the association provides at least two $2,000 scholarships to students meeting the proper criteria.
The poinsettias made available for this year’s sale were grown by Peterson Brothers Inc., one of the state’s largest wholesale growers, and were sold to the Bexar County Master Gardeners at the wholesale price, said David Rodriguez, AgriLife Extension agent for horticulture, Bexar County.
“These plants are high-quality, florist-grade plants, and we sell them at prices lower than or competitive with most retailers,” said Rodriguez, who oversees the county’s Master Gardener program. “The sale requires the involvement and support of 25 to 30 Bexar County Master Gardeners.”
Rodriguez said Peterson’s grows about 36,000 poinsettia plants each year for sale to retailers in Texas and elsewhere.
“Poinsettias are the No. 1 seasonal flower and about 90 percent of all poinsettias sold are red, so we’re glad we can offer the plants in not only their most popular color, but also in white, ‘Aggie’ or ‘Prestige’ maroon, and Picasso, which is a red-and-white variegated flower. We’ll have plenty of them in supply, but we’d like people to get their order in as soon as possible so we can make sure they’re on site for pick-up.”
The plants come in 6½-inch plastic pots with support rings and come in protective sleeves, Rodriguez said. There are also 4½-inch red plants available for purchase.
The price for one to four plants is $14 each and $12 each for five or more, and plant colors can be mixed. The 4½-inch red poinsettias are $5 each, and colored foil pot covers will be available for $1 each.
“There may be limited quantities of some colors of poinsettia, so we’re asking people to place their orders as soon as possible,” he said.
Rodriguez said plants must be picked up between noon and 3 p.m. Dec. 7, or from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 8 at Suite 208 of the AgriLife Extension office in Conroy Square, 3355 Cherry Ridge Drive, San Antonio.
An order form may be obtained there or at the AgriLife Extension website for Bexar County at http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu or the Bexar County Master Gardener website at http://www.bexarcountymastergardeners.org.
Rodriguez said other Master Gardener plant sales, including the association’s annual plant and rodeo tomato sale at the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo, also provide funding for the scholarships and the Youth Gardens Program of AgriLife Extension.
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