Red Oak Poinsettia

Red Oak poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima 'Red Oak') is a compact selection with deeply lobed, oak shaped bracts that colour a rich red through the cool months. Planted out in a warm frost free garden it builds into a shrub of about 1.5m tall and 1m wide, and stays smaller in a pot. Buy it if you want the colour back every year rather than for one season.

Why you'll love it

• Colour when little else is flowering. The red bracts hold for weeks through the cool months and read as a solid block from a distance.
• The oak leaf bract is different. Lobed rather than pointed, so it looks less like the supermarket poinsettia and more like a garden shrub.
• Container or garden. It performs indoors in a bright spot, on a balcony, or planted out in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens.
• Fast in warm weather. A tube puts on real height in a single warm season.

Where it works best

Pots and balconies. A 300mm to 400mm pot suits it, and a container lets you move it somewhere prominent while it is colouring.

Indoors in a bright room. It works near a well lit window, out of direct hot sun through glass and away from air conditioning vents.

Feature planting in warm gardens. In frost free districts it goes straight into a bed as a 1.5m shrub and makes a strong seasonal feature against a green backdrop.

One honest caution. The milky sap irritates skin and is toxic to pets if chewed, so wash your hands after pruning.

Growing poinsettia in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to bright light outdoors, bright indirect light inside. It is frost tender and suited to tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens, so cooler southern districts should keep it potted and under cover for winter. Bract colour is triggered by long uninterrupted nights, so a plant lit every evening by a porch or street light may never colour properly.

Soil. Free draining, in the ground or a pot. It takes drought once established but not wet feet, so avoid heavy clay and use a pot with a working drainage hole.

Water and feed. Water when the top few centimetres dry out, then let it drain fully, easing right off in winter. Feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser through spring and summer, and stop once the bracts colour.

Pruning. Cut back hard in early spring once the bracts finish, taking each stem to about a third of its length. That single prune keeps the plant compact and produces the stems carrying the next display.

What to expect when it arrives

Red Oak is grown as tube stock, so plants arrive young, around 15cm to 25cm tall, and green rather than coloured. That is normal: bracts colour in response to shortening days, not plant age, so a tube bought in spring is a well built plant by the cool months. Pinch the tips twice over the first warm season, since each branch carries a bract cluster.

Plants are packed upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to keep indoor plants alive: light, water and placement
• Browse indoor flowering plants
• More plants that perform in containers

Common questions

Is it safe around cats and dogs?

No. The milky sap irritates skin and mouths, and chewed leaves can cause drooling and vomiting in cats and dogs. It is rarely serious, but keep the plant up off the floor if your pet chews foliage.

Why did my poinsettia not turn red?

Almost always night light. The bracts need around six weeks of long, completely dark nights to colour, so a plant beside a lamp, a porch light or a street light stays green.

Can I plant it in the garden?

Yes, in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate districts with free draining soil, where it makes a shrub near 1.5m tall. It is frost tender, so colder gardens should keep it in a pot.