RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina produces the second most poinsettias in the United States behind California. The popular winter flower is a major contributor to the state’s agricultural economy.

So what does it take to grow a perfect poinsettia and why is the Tar Heel State known for them?

What You Need To Know

  • North Carolina is the No. 2 poinsettia producer in the United States

  • Raleigh’s Homewood Nursery and Garden Center grows 30,000 poinsettias every year

  • More poinsettias are sold nationwide during the Christmas season than any other flowering plant all year long

“When you're known for growing nearly every color of poinsettia, why not have some orange poinsettias or some golden poinsettias or the whites, the pinks?” Joe Stoffregen, the owner and president of Homewood Nursery & Garden Center, said.

At Homewood Nursery & Garden Center, poinsettias are the name of the game.

“This year it was 55 different varieties. We have grown up to 150 different varieties so it will fluctuate anywhere from 50 up to about 100 in a typical year,” Stoffregen said. “We have a really good climate for growing poinsettias here [in North Carolina] and we have a number of large growers that produce over a million plants each.”

Even if these aren’t your favorite plant, Stoffregen’s passion for poinsettias might change your mind.

“The canopy on this plant — look at that. That's spectacular,” Stoffregen said. “I mean, you may not like poinsettias but you got to love that, right?”

Stoffregen’s father started the business and began growing poinsettias to get them from their fall season to spring. The rest is history.

“My dad said, ‘I'm going to grow 1,000 poinsettias.’ It was 1972. We'll start with 1,000 poinsettias in our greenhouse and we'll go from there. Each year after that, he grew a 1,000 more. So he grew that 1,000. He sold it. He grew 2,000. He sold it. Each year, up until we got to the 30,000 poinsettia point, he was adding a 1,000 poinsettias a year,” Stoffregen said.

By now, they have it down to a science.

“We're very precise. You know, we're very precise with the amount of fertilization, the spacing, the light, all those sorts of things, so that we try to get the most perfect poinsettia. My dad was always pursuing the most perfect poinsettia,” Stoffregen said.

Stoffregen also tries to educate people about the plant.

“Sept. 21, the days become shorter than the nights, and that triggers the plant to stop producing chlorophyll, which is the green in the leaves. Soon as it shuts down on producing chlorophyll, the pigment is already in the leaves for whatever color that points that it's going to be, whether it's red or pink or white and so that color emerges as the plant changes,” Stoffregen said.

Everything they sell is direct to consumer so they also hand out poinsettia care sheets, debunking common misconceptions about the plant.

“They're not edible either, but they're not a toxic plant. We like to make sure that people do know that. We have it on our care sheet so that people are comfortable with it,” Stoffregen said.

As much as Stoffregen loves poinsettias, he loves the joy that his business brings to people even more.

“We get to see people come in here and I see them taking pictures and having a good time and enjoying being in this environment and then walking out with the poinsettias, which helps us to be able to continue doing what we do,” Stoffregen said.

Stoffregen said more poinsettias are sold nationwide during the Christmas season than any other flowering plant all year long.

As for how poinsettias got their name, a man named Joel Poinsett from Charleston, South Carolina, brought them from Mexico to the United States in the 1800s.