We’ve been battered by hurricane xynthia and saturated by monsoon rains and in between we’ve had the warmest winter since the 1920s. The press have labelled it ‘the winter of storms’ and Tenerife’s weather has had more news coverage in the rest of the world than our camera shy little rock in the Atlantic is used to.
But I awoke on Sunday morning to the ‘hoop, hoop’ song of the hoopoe bird newly returned from his over-winter in Africa and my thoughts turned to long, lazy mornings over a pot of tea and the Sunday supplements in one of Tenerife’s park cafes.

So, in the fervent expectation that the wild extremes of winter are now safely behind us (was that a clap of thunder I just heard?), here at Tenerife Magazine we thought we’d join the hoopoe and trumpet the imminent arrival of spring with our guide to the best places to enjoy a cup of tea in the company of nature’s bounty.

Parque Los Lavaderos (Avenida Los Angeles, El Sauzal; open 08.00-19.00 in winter, 08.00-21.00 in summer; admission free)
Los Lavaderos clings to the side of the cliff in a series of terraces which lead down to the natural springs of a former laundry, with stunning views of Mount Teide and the lush north coastline. Quirky garden follies and giant structural plants characterise the landscape set around the Chocolaté café which serves speciality teas and bite-sized snacks in a deliciously bohemian setting.
Go now and you’ll get the perfumed benefit of the wall of jasmine right below the café.

Risco Bello (Parque Taoro, Puerto de la Cruz; open every day from 09.30 – 18.00; entrance free to café, €4 to water gardens)
Set alongside the gardens of the iconic former hotel and casino of Taoro, these decadent water gardens are Puerto’s version of ‘Through the Looking Glass’. Paths, steps and bridges weave their way through green tunnels to emerge at Monet-style lily ponds and hidden lakes set with cascading falls. Charming and intriguing in equal measure. Alongside the duck pond on a tranquil lawn where weeping willow trees bend to kiss the waterside is a small café with tea, sandwiches and a time warp to the 1950s.

Parque García Sanabria. (Rambla General Franco, Santa Cruz; admission free)
Set in the heart of Santa Cruz and known as ‘the lungs of the city’, Parque García Sanabria is an open air art gallery set amongst tropical landscaped gardens where Santacruceros come to relax and to play. Strolling through its 67,000 square metres of botanical gardens, you’ll encounter the bare bosoms of ‘Fecundidad’ and the green eyes of ‘The Cat’ amongst its many treasures. Head to the constantly changing floral clock on Calle de Méndez Núñez for the Gaudi-esque décor of its pavement café.

Sitio Litre (Camino Sitio Litre, Puerto de la Cruz; open every day from 09.30-17.00 (18.00 in summer); entrance €4.75)
Patronised in its time by such luminaries as Agatha Christie, William Wilde (Oscar’s dad), the explorers Richard Burton and Alexander Von Humboldt and the botanical artist Marianne North, you may consider ordering Earl Grey at the café outside the mansion in Sitio Litre. Tenerife’s oldest surviving gardens, Sitio Litre also boast an impressive orchid collection and a 300 year old Drago Tree; don’t forget to crook your pinkie for this one.

It’s little wonder that so many couples find love in the tropical setting and perpetual sunshine (okay, almost perpetual) of the Canary Islands.

Although cynics may attribute this in part to the size of the spirit measures, clearly the blame lies at the feet of warm sea breezes, gently swaying palm trees and a moon the size of a sci-fi comic cover. But beyond the superficial, the Islands also have a rich history of sorcery, romance and star-cross’d lovers whose ghostly traces weave a spell to snare unsuspecting Valentines.

Long before the Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) invaded and won the Canary Islands in the 15th Century, they were populated by a race known as Guanche; a primitive, superstitious people who dressed in animal skins and inhabited caves. The Guanche had a very sophisticated and rigidly upheld caste system at the top of which were the ruling Menceys (Kings). Sun worshippers, the Guanche obeyed the laws of nature and believed in magic; amidst their legacy are tales of tragedy and romance.

Gara and Jonay
During the harvest festival of Beñesmén on La Gomera, Princess Gara of Agulo met and fell in love with Jonay, the handsome son of the Mencey of Adeje. But the Guanche believed that Princess Gara, coming from Agulo, was a child of water and that Jonay, coming from Tenerife with its fiery mountain which was known as the Island of Hell, was a child of fire. Thus the parents of Gara and Jonay were violently opposed to the union, believing it would bring doom on both islands, and strictly forbade the lovers to meet.

But Jonay was not to be deterred and unknown to his parents, using inflated goat bladders he swam back to La Gomera where the star-cross’d lovers fled to the forest to be together.
On discovering the deception, orders went out for the couple to be found and returned to their homes. Unable to bear the pain of separation, Gara and Jonay placed a cedar wood stake between their two breasts and embraced for one last time, throwing themselves to their death from the peak which today bears their names; Garajonay.

Princess Dacil
The favourite daughter of Bencomo, Mencey of Taoro and the most powerful Mencey on Tenerife, Dacil’s beauty was admired across the island and her future was mapped out for her by her betrothal to Duriman el Montañes.
But events of a far greater magnitude were to play their part in Dacil’s future.
With the Spanish invasion and defeat of the island came the handsome and dashing conquistador Captain Fernán García del Castillo who fell hopelessly in love with Dacil.
Gossip inevitably followed and rumours grew that the Captain and Dacil had met alone; a practice strictly forbidden under Guanche law.
Angry and jealous, the spurned Duriman el Montañes confronted Bencomo and demanded that he take action to punish Dacil’s crime. Not only had she met a man alone, but that man was a mortal enemy of the Guanche; a Spanish conquistador.
Left with no choice but to uphold the law, Bencomo was forced to have Dacil imprisoned where she languished for many months.

But the islanders were unwilling to allow their Princess to suffer an injustice and eventually witnesses were able to convince Bencomo that the lovers had never met alone but had in fact been accompanied.
Dacil was released and married her handsome Captain at the Iglesia de Concepción in Los Realejos, becoming Mencías del Castillo – Queen of the Castle.

There, a happy ending just for Valentine’s Day.

Barely have the Ayuntamientos (Town Halls) in Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz taken down the Christmas lights than they’ve been back on their ladder trucks installing the carnival lights.
Aligned to Easter, Carnaval (Spanish spelling) is early this year and many of the run-up events have already started.

Visitors will find their evenings this week being impregnated with the sound of a-capella songs of interminable length and indeterminate tune accompanied by the occasional blast on toy trumpets.
Known as Murgas, these ornately costumed groups of clowns (groups can be 50 or more strong) belt out political satire in nightly competitions to determine the best. Singing to packed audiences of Canarios who apparently can’t get enough of this stuff, the appeal of the Murgas is a mystery to me. A novelty the first time I saw them, their attraction waned after roughly 20 minutes. Since then I’ve had 6 years of them filling the TV screen nightly for weeks before, during and after Carnaval. Someone told me that if you could understand what they were singing you’d think they were good; I disagree; I still find them slightly less entertaining than watching the traffic lights change. Still, each to their own and if you want to catch them you’ll find them appearing nightly all over the north of the island.

Next on the Carnaval agenda will be the election of the Carnaval Queens; a much more spectator-friendly event in my opinion.
I’m never entirely sure what the judging criteria is for these events; the girl, the costume or the combination of the two but in any case it makes for a fabulous spectacle. The scantily clad girls appear on stage one at a time, their goosebumps rapidly disappearing as they work up a (very feminine no doubt) sweat dragging their extraordinarily elaborate costumes to the front of the stage. Frequently they can’t manage to gather enough momentum to make the journey and have to be rescued by roadies who presumably have to undertake some sort of life-threatening knock-out competition to win a place on this gig.

The real hard core of Carnaval gets underway next weekend with the Opening Parades. Santa Cruz hold theirs on the Friday evening and Puerto’s is on Saturday evening.
For spectators, this consists of getting to a good spot at least half an hour before the procession is due to start and standing there for a couple of hours while endless diminutive Canarios push in front of you and then invite the other six members of their family to join them.
The parades are colourful, loud and exhilarating and if you’re not in the mood to slip into fancy costume, down a couple of measures of rum and salsa down the street at the end of it then maybe Carnaval isn’t for you.
Whatever else you do, please do not put your fingers in your ears and grimace as the drummers pass by; it’s annoying and downright rude.

After the parades it’s party, party, party every night until dawn and if you want to really understand what this stuff is all about, plunge headlong into the hedonism. On the other hand, if you’ve just booked a quiet, relaxing, away-from-it-all holiday anywhere near the centre of proceedings in Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz… try for a refund – quick.

Wednesday sees the Burial of the Sardine taking place. Thousands of ‘widows’ (most of them men) attired in black dresses, hats and veils with various naughty toys barely concealed in stocking tops and garters, follow a funeral cortège for a giant papier mâché sardine wearing red lipstick and false eyelashes. Did I mention that Carnaval was surreal?
The cortège ends with the sardine being set alight accompanied by a fantastic fireworks display.
The closing parades are on Tuesday in Santa Cruz (although the parties continue until Saturday) and on Sunday in Puerto de la Cruz.
Of course, after that there are still some parties and probably another month of Murgas on the TV.

When the main events have settle down, a mini version of Carnaval rolls out to the rest of the island, even to the south where you can catch events in Los Gigantes and Los Cristianos.
Get the full low-down on the history, events and 2010 timetable for Carnaval on Tenerife.

Amongst the prestigious travel media professionals who make up the British Guild of Travel Writers, John Bell is a travel journalist, TV Director/Producer (John is the former Producer of Radio 4’s ‘Breakaway’ and Channel 4’s ‘Travelogue’) and tourism training professional.
I caught up with John last week at the Guild’s AGM Gala Dinner hosted by the Gran Hotel Bahía Del Duque and he had some pearls of wisdom to share with Tenerife’s tourism professionals.

Firstly, I asked John what his impressions of Tenerife had been so far and laughing, he replied; “It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be!”
Which I considered was exactly the sort of response the Cabildo (Island Government) were hoping to elicit when they invited the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) to host their Annual General Meeting on Tenerife.

Sparing no effort or expense, the Cabildo wanted to show the Guild that there’s a very different Tenerife from the one that has been poorly portrayed in the British press so many times. Judging by John’s conversation, the exercise is already yielding results and most of the BGTW delegates I spoke to were seeing a very different side to Tenerife, one that hopefully they’ll promote in their various travel media.

As well as working in travel journalism and TV, John is a media trainer in travel and tourism and he took the time to offer some invaluable advice to those of us who are involved in some form or another in Tenerife’s tourism sector.

John’s message for Tenerife is not to lose sight of its traditional market but rather to raise the standards of what’s being offered and to provide excellent value for money.
John: “That’s the key – don’t confuse low cost with poor value. Many of the people who fly on Ryanair and Easyjet are choosing to stay in 4 and 5 star accommodation. They don’t necessarily expect low prices but they do insist on good value for money.
The traditional market is changing but it’s still your staple market, don’t neglect it.”

John has recently returned from a conference in Madrid where he says he emerged with one strong message; offer better value for money to your traditional market whilst keeping an eye on emerging markets.

John: “Tenerife must be able to respond quickly to the demands of a travel public that now has the power to book their holidays 24/7 over the Internet. People may read an article about a place on Thursday and decide to go the following day for a weekend. They can book their flight immediately and the hotels need to be just as responsive. So too should the car hire companies. If the hotel and the car hire company don’t have 24/7 online booking facilities they’re going to miss out on a whole travel market.”

Tenerife hotels should offer the whole package, says John.

John: “Hotels should make available airport transfer, car hire, excursions and even travel guides. Everything should be readily bookable in one package online to make arranging a short break quick, easy and efficient for visitors.”

From where I’m standing, much of Tenerife’s professional tourism sector still has a long way to go in terms of offering a seamless package to visitors. After investing so much time and effort into hosting the BGTW, let’s hope the Cabildo can now disseminate what it has learned from these travel professionals and create a destination that will suit the Internet-savvy British market. It’s our traditional market and it’s constantly evolving…Tenerife needs to evolve with it.

Tenerife has been polishing her best profile this week to entertain, educate and enthral the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) who’ve been enjoying their Annual General Meeting on the island.
On Thursday night Tenerife Magazine was lucky enough to be invited to the Guild’s Gala Dinner at the ultra-chic Bahía Del Duque Hotel in Costa Adeje.
So, wearing my poshest outfit, fresh lipstick and stilettos I arrived at the El Duque and walked what felt like a half marathon through its grounds wishing I’d opted for hiking boots instead.

As luck would have it, I passed through a convention of Spanish surgeons en route to the Beach Club and a glass of something delicious was gracefully thrust into my hands to keep me going until I finally reached the venue and caught up with Sarah Monaghan, editor/travel writer/photographer and press and PR co-ordinator for the BGTW.

I asked Sarah what had impressed her so far about Tenerife.
Sarah: “Well I was completely wowed by Teide National Park; the light, the landscape and the colours were extraordinary and the way that you could see the lava from eruptions so clearly.
I’m looking forward to walking in the rainforest in the Anaga Mountains tomorrow and to discovering more about the wines on Tenerife; the history of wine growing, which grapes are used and how they cultivate the vines in this climate.”

A strong supporter of ecotourism, Sarah wasn’t too keen on the amount of development taking place on the Tenerife south coast but found the general environment to be surprisingly good.
Sarah: “I think the standards of accommodation here are excellent and I’m extremely impressed with the cleanliness of the whole area and the quality of lifestyle that visitors can enjoy.”

The Cabildo (Island Government) have arranged a whole series of trips for the BGTW to show them a different side to Tenerife and one which the Cabildo hope will result in some features that encourage more people to get out and about on the island and discover some of the ‘real’ Tenerife.
Sarah: “We’ll be taking a look at Canarian cookery, we’re going to the Anagas and we’ve been to banana plantations and a small rural hotel. These are things that many visitors to the island wouldn’t normally do and it’s shown us a very different face to Tenerife.”

With a distinguished and varied publishing and editorial career already under her belt, I was keen to know how Sarah felt that the travel writing industry was changing in the light of the explosion of Internet-based travel information.
Sarah: “There have been meteoric changes in the freelance travel writing sector as a result of the growth of the Internet and we are all blogging and tweeting now. But it’s important to realise that very little of the information which we see on the Web is impartial. I believe there is still a place for properly researched, impartial travel writing, particularly when if focuses on a specialist area. The availability of so much information is forcing those within the industry to specialize more which is not a bad thing.”

After a night of fine food, excellent wine, Carnaval-themed entertainment and a spectacular laser show, the journey back to the exit of the Bahia Del Duque Hotel proved challenging. And I wasn’t the only one failing to rise to the challenge. By the time we finally found the exit we were quite a gathering, including John Carter. It seems travel writers can find their way around the World but give us a complicated hotel layout and we might as well be in an episode of ‘Lost’.

If the BGTW finds that’s it’s missing a few members when it gets back to Blighty, can I suggest that they start the search at the Bahia Del Duque?

We followed the car in front as it weaved around corners and sped down narrow roads. Eventually it screeched to a halt in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, on the edge of a small road running parallel to the TF5 motorway. Leaving the vehicles we then followed our hosts on foot down until we reached a large wooden gate. A gentle rap on the wood and the gate opened fractionally for a pair of midriff-level eyes to peer out. The gate creaked open and a small boy grinned “Hola!” as we entered and were led down an allotment path to a large wooden shed.
Outside, two barbecues were smoking, joints of pork and beef dancing on the hot griddles of one, chicken breasts sizzling on the other. Inside, the beams were festooned with flags above long trestle tables with paper cloths. Latino music emanated from a small hi-fi sitting atop a counter in one corner; flanked by large flasks of wine and ranks of beer bottles, this was clearly the bar.
We’d arrived at our lunch venue; a local guachinche.

A guachinche is a makeshift, no-frills restaurant in which the wine comes from the owner’s own harvest, the menu is limited and the food is home cooked and ostensibly only there to keep the wine company. Guachinches spring up in sheds, garages, back gardens and courtyards all over the north of Tenerife at the mere mention of the word ‘fiesta’. Usually a piece of cardboard or paper stuck to a wall serves as the menu and trestle tables, oak barrels and upturned crates serve as the furnishings.
But don’t let the rustic ambience put you off; you’ll be served with good, wholesome, tasty food and dangerously quaffable wines at a price that’ll have you wondering if they accidentally lost a zero.

Although usually ‘temporary’ in nature, some guachinches are ‘temporarily’ always there and have become popular eating places with more and more tables being added and a guaranteed large turn-out on most days that they’re open, particularly Sundays.
Barbecued meats and roast chicken are frequent menu flyers but you’ll also find a selection of tasty tapas starters in many and even a sweet option if you get a really sophisticated one. Some even have proper tablecloths.

Tenerife’s fiesta season kicks off this month with San Abad in La Matanza and Buenavista, and Romería’s in Los Realejos and Arona. While you’re filling your plastic cup from passing floats and trying not to lose an eye from a wayward missile of hard boiled egg, don’t miss the opportunity to visit a genuine guachinche. I can pretty much guarantee that there’ll be one somewhere lurking amongst the piles of manure and discarded popcorn; you just have to know where to look… nod, wink.

With 519 stores dotted around the country, you’re never far from a Zara in Spain… or in the UK, or France, or even India in future as Zara stores are scheduled to open in New Delhi and Mumbai in 2010. In fact there are over 1500 Zara stores in 73 countries worldwide; they’ve come an awfully long way since Amancio Ortega opened the first shop in his home town of A Coruña, Galicia in 1975.

Zara’s Autumn/Winter 09/10 collection has seen a return to the big shoulders and tiny waists of the 80s for women. Fitted trouser suits worn over soft silk blouses in nude and muted earth tones give power style a soft edge. Long tunic tops in creamy soft cotton worn under leather bomber jackets with skinny trousers or minis and thigh-length boots create Dick Whittington meets Angelina Jolie sex appeal.
Men are getting in on the act with leather bomber jackets and knitted American Jock-style cardigans paired with sharp cut, military style double-breasted jackets. Trousers are baggy with cuffed bottoms worn inside ankle boots. It’s all very communist worker and will have you reaching for the vodka and your well-thumbed Tolstoy.

Of course, with a design-to-shop turnaround of just two weeks compared to the industry standard of six months, it could all have changed by the time you’ve read this and made your way to your nearest store.
Still, the sales are just around the corner and Zara always has huge discounts on everything. Happy bargain hunting!

With the party season upon us and little black dresses at the ready (the boys will have to wait until Carnaval to wear theirs), here’s TM’s guide to the top cocktails expected to be sipped across the island over this festive holiday.

The Latin Spirit
Tenerife’s close cultural connections to Central and South America make rum-based cocktails a favourite amongst the Latinos, particularly in the north of the island where Cuban bars and fiesta kiosks like their alcohol infused with sugar and salsa. Or as they say here, azucar!

Mojito (moh-HEE-toe)
3oz Bacardi
juice 1 lime
2 tsp sugar
4 sprigs fresh mint
soda water
Crush 3 sprigs of mint with the sugar into a paste in the bottom of a glass. Add a splash of soda to dissolve the sugar. Add the lime juice and rum and mix. Pour over crushed ice, add the last sprig of mint & top up with soda.

Caipirinha (kie-purr-REEN-yah) – meaning ‘country bumpkin’
2oz Cachaca rum (sweet Brazilian rum – accept no substitute)
1 lime quartered
2 tsp fine sugar
Crush sugar and lime into a paste in the bottom of a glass. Fill the glass with ice and pour over the Cachaca. Stir well and frequently to keep the sugar dissolved.

Mai Tai – which is Tahitian for out of this world
1 ounce light rum
½ ounce triple sec
¼ ounce lime juice
1 ½ ounces pineapple juice
1 ½ ounces orange juice
1 dash of Grenadine
½ ounce dark rum
maraschino cherry for garnish
Shake all ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a glass half filled with ice. Top with dark rum and garnish with the cherry.

Daiquiri
2 measures white rum
½ measure lime juice
¼ measure sugar syrup
Shake all ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain through a fine strainer (to avoid lime pips and pulp) into a Martini glass.

Up Town Twists
In the chic bars and clubs of Playa de Las Américas and Costa Adeje where the clientele are as manicured as the beaches, nowadays it’s less Tenerife Uncovered and more Sex and the City.

Cosmopolitan
2 measures Russian vodka
1 measure Cointreau
1 measure cranberry juice
Splash lime juice
Shake all ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker and pour into a chilled Martini glass. Add an olive.

Margarita
2 measures Tequila
1 measure Cointreau
½ measure lime juice
Prepare the cocktail glass by rubbing lime juice all the way around the edge of the glass and dipping it in a saucer of salt. Shake all ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into the glass.

Tequila Sunrise
1 measure Tequila
large dash Grenadine
fresh orange juice
Half fill a tall glass with ice cubes and add the Tequila. Top up with orange juice to a little below the rim. Add a generous dash of Grenadine which will sink to the bottom of the glass colouring the orange juice on its way down. Garnish with a twisted wedge of orange.

Glass-nost
As Tenerife becomes more cosmopolitan, the clientele are changing and a glance at any menu will soon tell you… the Russians are coming. So if there’s one ingredient that’s going to top the cocktail-making list this Christmas, it’s vodka.

Sex on the Beach
2 measures Russian vodka
1 measure Peach Schnapps
3 measures cranberry juice
3 measures orange juice
splash lemon juice
Shake the vodka, Schnapps and lemon juice over ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain and pour into a tall glass. Top up with cranberry and orange juice.

Black Russian
2 measures Russian vodka
1 measure Kahlua
Cola
Shake the vodka and Kahlua in a cocktail shaker, pour over ice and top with cola. You can substitute Tia Maria for the Kahlua if you prefer.

White Russian
As above but gently pour cream over the alcohol instead of cola and don’t mix.

La Montañeta del Fraile (the monk’s hill) is a volcanic cone on the eastern boundary of Los Realejos overlooking La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz. On the summit, a small white Ermita stands, keeping a lonely vigil over the valley until the 3rd May comes round when locals make the steep walk to its little plaza to celebrate the Fiesta of the Cross.
Only thought to have appeared in the thirteenth century, the little mountain was originally known as La Montañeta de la Luz (the bright hill). But in the eighteenth century one man left his mark on its slopes and his name on its deeds.

The Parable of the Monk
In 1788, the story goes, a Dominican monk named Fray Antonio el Gomero set off on his mule to raise funds for the Convent of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria.  From every bodega he asked if he could fill one of his barrels with grape juice from the recent harvest. From the Guanche tribes he asked for goat kids which he drove back to the north.
Over time, Antonio filled his cellars with good wine and his pastures with healthy goats, all of which he sold for handsome profit to benefit the Convent. For many years, the monk lived on his little mountain and continued to raise funds from his goat and wine business.
When he died in 1811, the locals re-named the hill La Montañeta del Fraile in his honour.

Keeping the Faith
Five generations after Fray Antonio served goat stew and wine to the local parishioners, the finca, walkways, botanical gardens, shrines and courtyards of El Monasterio occupy 100,000 sq metres of La Montañeta del Fraile serving excellent food and wines in its five restaurants.
In deference to its alleged monastic origins, names like ‘El Confesionarío’ (the confessional) and ‘El Convento’ (the convent) are carved onto heavy wooden doors leading to cavernous dining halls and intimate sequestered corners.

All Creatures Great and Small
And it’s not just visitors who enjoy the monastic surroundings.
Peacocks amble along the walkways, displaying their fabulous feathers and putting the flame red bougainvillea temporarily into the shade. Ducks and geese waddle amongst the trees, drinking from the rills or heading back to preen their feathers and float in the duck pond. Hens with long trains of chicks, like ribbons on kites, tic-tac their way through the legs of goats and ponies in the paddocks while cockerels kick up the red, soft earth into a cloud before ushering in another false dawn with their trademark cries.

The monk’s hill is a local landmark and with its Christmas lights sparkling above the valley, it’s a beautifully festive spot to enjoy a glass of wine and drink a toast to Fray Antonio and his goats.

December 12th is National Poinsettia Day.
Tradition dictates that you should give a poinsettia on that day and it gives us an excuse to feature this most enduring of Christmas icons which brings a splash of crimson delight to the festive season.

On Tenerife, poinsettias grow wild at the side of the road, particularly around the north of the island where fed by winter showers they can reach up to ten feet in height and produce huge double heads of bracts (clustered leaves). From the end of November through to early February they turn the landscape into one big Christmas wonderland, well… a sort of tropical Christmas wonderland.

Flower facts
Originally from Mexico, it’s the plant’s bracts that produce their trademark crimson hue; the flowers are yellow and quite insignificant. Contrary to popular opinion, the poinsettia isn’t actually poisonous although the sap can cause minor skin irritation. Tests have shown that vast quantities of the plant would have to be consumed to cause any stomach upset, so here’s a piece of advice… don’t eat all the poinsettias!

What’s in a name?
The botanical name for poinsettia is Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning ‘very beautiful’. In Chile and Peru the plant is known as the Crown of the Andes but in its native Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries, they are known as Flores de Noche Buena or flowers of the Holy Night.
This name comes from the story of Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no gift to lay at the feet of the baby Jesus at Christmas Eve mass. Her cousin Pedro tried to cheer her up by telling Pepita that if given in love, even the  humblest of gifts would please Christ. So Pepita picked some weeds from the side of the road and as she laid them at the feet of the Christ, they burst into brilliant red blooms – flores de noche buena.

Business is blooming
Poinsettias are the biggest selling flowering potted plant in the US and over the six-week run up to Christmas a staggering $300 million will be spent on some $75 million plants to decorate homes and offices.
There are over 100 varieties of poinsettias available and according to the Vancouver Sun, many attempts have been made over the years to seduce consumers away from the traditional red.
Horticultural experimentation to date has seen the production of blue and speckled poinsettias which sound rather nice. There was an attempt to create a poinsettia for the punk era by giving it crinkly bracts, but to be honest it’s more Wrinkled Rose than Johnny Rotten. But things went too far a few years ago when horticulturalists attempting to produce psychedelic poinsettias were clearly under the influence of hallucinogenics themselves and produced plants featuring pink with purple blotches and yellow with orange blotches.

Despite these floral seductresses the overwhelmingly most popular choice for the Christmas poinsettia remains pure, true red.