The holidays are almost here, and nothing says Christmas cheer quite like a poinsettia.
The students at Cumberland County High School are again growing beautiful poinsettias for the public to purchase from the Fairfield Glade Garden Club.
The students begin the process in September when they plant the poinsettias; 1,600 of them this year.
They then care for the plants while waiting for that special time of year when their leaves will begin to turn from green to red, marble, Jingle Bell or white.
CCHS educator Danny Wilson said poinsettias are a phototrophic plant. They need more darkness than light to turn color.
The magic number is 11 hours and 29 minutes of darkness — and that occurs in late October here on the Cumberland Plateau.
The students continue to water and groom the plants throughout the semester.
The Fairfield Glade Garden Club will sell the poinsettia plants at the CCHS greenhouse in Crossville from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
The club will bring poinsettia sales to Fairfield Glade from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 1 and 8 a.m.-noon Dec. 2 at Village Green Mall.
Shoppers are encouraged to arrive early for best selection and bring their own container for transporting plants home.
The proceeds from this sale will benefit both the CCHS Greenhouse Maintenance and the Fairfield Glade Garden Club’s Helena Schmidt Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships to high school seniors in the community.
Thank you in advance for your support of this fundraiser.
Visit fggardenclub.com or email fggardenclub@gmail.com for more about the poinsettia sale.