Dec. 1, 2009, Vineland Station, Ont. – The 2009 Poinsettia Cultivar Evaluation Open House will be held Friday, Dec. 4 at the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre.

There are a total of 122 cultivars being evaluated. Participating breeders include Dummen USA, Paul Ecke Ranch, Selecta First Class and Syngenta Flowers.

There are a record 53 red varieties in the trial, notes coordinator Wayne Brown, greenhouse floriculture specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, “seventeen of them never having been in the trial here at Vineland.”

The format will be relatively informal with a few brief comments about the trial and then plenty of opportunity to view the varieties both under glass and acrylic. The open house runs from 1 to 4:30.

The trial will continue during the week of Dec. 7-11 for those unable to attend the open house.