To keep your poinsettia as a growing houseplant, look after them well and they’ll last until the spring.
Keep them at an ideal temperature of approximately 16°C/60°F (a maximum of 22°C/71°F and minimum of 14°C/57°C). This is what you’ll find in a coolish room in a house.
Don’t leave your plant in the car overnight if a frost is forecast and bring it home wrapped up cosily in paper or cellophane to keep the wind from scorching the leaves.
As a wild plant of southern Mexico and Guatemala, growing in semi-desert conditions, poinsettias like a bright spot but with little direct sunlight. Place them on a cool window-ledge, avoiding radiators and draughts and don’t let the leaves touch the cold windowpanes. They don’t like to be right by an outside door.
Used to drought, poinsettia hate being over-watered so don’t leave them sitting in water, but instead let the compost dry out a little before watering again (usually every 3-4 days). To keep them going as long as possible, feed once a month with a standard indoor plant feed.
Poinsettias are annual, so put them on the compost heap once the colourful bracts have faded.