Jason Arndt jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Jason Arndt Shawano Community High School junior Katelyn Senzig waters one of 135 poinsettia plants for sale at the school’s greenhouse Thursday.
Poinsettia plants are a reflective sign the holiday season is here, and for more than 20 years, Shawano Community High School has sold them annually.
The school will open its greenhouse doors to sell the 135 plants to citizens starting 8 a.m. Wednesday after Melissa Braun’s horticulture classes spent an entire semester growing them.
Braun, an agriculture teacher at SCHS, said her classes began caring for them when they were 4 inches tall in late August. Patience and proper lighting were needed to develop them into vibrant colors like bright red, dark red, white, pink, jingle bells and a pink/white mix.
“They didn’t start changing until the end of October, early November, with longer nights and shorter days,” Braun said.
Another challenge was the earlier cold snap northeast Wisconsin received last month and resulted in the school expediting the heating of the greenhouse. There were multiple overnight lows of below zero temperatures.
“Each plant is going to have their own challenges, different temperatures and different conditions,” Braun said. “The colder temperatures that came out early, we had to compensate to make sure our greenhouse is warm enough to care for them.”
Junior Dylan Enno said the challenge was a first for him and believes it diversifies his agriculture background. He currently works at a local dairy farm.
“Patience and learning how to work together has been fun,” Enno said. “I am getting familiar with all of the agricultural stuff going on around here.”
Cost is $10 for the colorful plant with proceeds going back into the school. Sales will continues through 4 p.m. weekdays until the item is sold out.
“All of the money that is brought in from the poinsettia sale goes back into the greenhouse, so that can be used for seed money for new plants,” Braun said.
The University of Wisconsin-Extension offered care instructions when people bring them home, which includes keeping it sleeved and covered when transporting it home, and providing adequate light to maintain color and avoid drafts of air.