The Marble Poinsettia
Poinsettia ‘Marbella’
Marble is a popular Poinsettia, mainly because it offers some pizzazz against the sea of Red. Some people consider it a novelty, but we believe the plant has enough sales to break out into its own mainstream category. Marble was one of the first Poinsettias on the market that was off the beaten path decades ago, so it has a dedicated fan base that spans generations. We sell two varieties for very specific reasons.
The Marble style was one of the first novelties back in the 70s and 80s
‘Christmas Beauty Marble’
There was a fun, festive, almost counter-culture vibe that was evident when the Marble Poinsettia first debuted. It was definitely not your grandmother’s Red Poinsettia. Even today, Millennials and hipsters are drawn to the Marble style for its looser, more casual approach to holiday decoration.
Of all the Marble varieties we’ve evaluated, ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ has the brightest and most saturated pink blaze in the center of the bract. Subsequently, it also has the best contrast against the creamy yellow margins. We find that this translates into more pop for the plant, leading to higher visibility for retail sales and general public enjoyment. ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ is a bicolor that’s a recent improvement to the style, only released in 2016, so we consider it to be the leading cultivar for Marble Poinsettias right now.
Mid-sized bracts are supported by a thick network of branching stems
‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ is a broad, wide plant that fills the space around it, making it feel nice and big and lush. Mid-sized bracts are supported by a thick network of naturally branching stems, growing up from the pot in a V-shape. As a result, this is a Poinsettia that sleeves well—an important detail during the busy holiday season.
When you look down from the top, you see that the color does a good job of covering nearly all the green of the understory. Bracts drape at an angle to provide color along the sides, facing the viewer, as well as over the top. We also find that ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ finishes evenly for a nice clean circle in its presentation.
‘Marbella’ has the qualities of ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ in a larger package
‘Marbella’
Just as the sedan is a family-sized car, ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ is the family-sized Poinsettia. If you want a bigger, more generous SUV version we suggest ‘Marbella’. Notice that the markings look very close to ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’—the ‘Marbella’ plant is just bigger. This is not a surprise because the same breeder, Selecta One, developed both plants. Consequently, the same excellent color contrast, bright pink, and understory are present in both varieties.
Large Poinsettias are a specialty at Diefenbacher Greenhouses, so we select the cultivar that best fits the pot for a certain look. Since ‘Marbella’ is more vigorous, this Poinsettia tends to overgrow a smaller pot—it’s a much better choice for filling out a larger pot. Because the stems are thicker and stronger it can lift up a bigger, heavier canopy.
Notice the saturated pink of the central blaze
The Marble Centerpiece
We also grow ‘Christmas Beauty Marble’ as a Centerpiece Bowl. Here, we handle the cultivar in a different way, angling the planting so it has a bigger color presentation to the sides. This is possible because a 10-inch bowl gives us significantly more maneuvering room to set up the Poinsettia to finish the way we like it. Our final product is a blend of the genetics we place and how we handle those genetics as the Poinsettia grows into the space above the bowl.
