There鈥檚 only a few major poinsettia producers in B.C., and for one business owner on Vancouver Island the business is strong.
Hilltop Greenhouses on West Burnside Road in Saanich started in the early 1970s and while poinsettia producers around the country are rare, business is steady with poinsettias covering a good range of Hilltop鈥檚 four-acre covered growing space.
The family run company sells most of the 100,000 poinsettias it grows each year on the Island. They can be found at grocery chains, independent florists and garden centres and are becoming a popular fundraising item.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a growing segment for us, churches, schools, clubs and hockey teams,鈥� said Richard Murray, whose parents started the business. 鈥淪ome groups buy 1,000 plants off us, groups from as far as Parksville-Qualicum, it鈥檚 a big fundraiser for them.鈥�
There are easier crops to grow than poinsettias. 鈥淯nrooted cuttings鈥� are planted in June and July and Hilltop grows about 20 different varieties, mostly reds, yellows and combinations as such. They sell as four-inch, six-inch and 10-inch plants.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not easy, they鈥檙e pretty tricky actually, but with years of experience, it鈥檚 repeatable,鈥� Murray said.
Otherwise, Hilltop produces bedding plants and hanging plants in the spring, and relies on a daily harvest of long English cucumber production in the summer. Workers are still picking cukes three times a week in December, albeit from a smaller crop.
The City of Victoria and Butchart Gardens are known to grow poinsettias but not for sale.
For now, it鈥檚 poinsettia season at Hilltop, though the floor of one greenhouse is covered in fuschia seedlings ahead of Mother鈥檚 Day, the next crop in an ongoing cycle. Hilltop poinsettias are only sold at a commercial level but are easy enough to find in stores around town.
