Pruning Poinsettias

In the back of the little store was an ugly green plant. It had been clipped and trimmed of it's leaves. A huge old poinsettia. It was near a window,  but not looking out to the street,,,but to the alley behind the store.I was working there...it was my first year and often  wondered why they kept this ugly plant. The mayor of the town along with his wife...owned the store....a very frugal couple. That you could tell from my wages:) We went through the spring that first year and she kept watering the plant and it was starting to put forth little green leaves. "Why does she bother?" I thought. Through the summer, the plant grew and grew. It was starting to really look nice...all bright green and alive. Later in the summer, it got a new place to sit. It was in a place with no window and didn't receive any sunlight. It stopped growing leaves and just sat there.The store was completely dark at night... We slowed down the watering when fall came. In December, when I was dusting the shelves, I noticed a little tinge of red on some of the leaves. The coloring continued until the plant was covered with red flowers. Not as red and nice as it once had been, but red. This magic happened with little care at all. The plant was brought out to sit by the fountain, in the front of the store. The Christmas season was here and the plant once again in full bloom.
I was new to gardening at that time and belonged to our local garden club.  I remember one time..trying to keep a poinsettia from one year to the next. I had a closet in my dining room and at a certain time each day the plant would go in the closet then out the next day. The results...just a few tinged leaves with red and one pretty one. Hardly worth my effort.The garden club ladies had a ball with this...I would get many comments about my plant in the closet.
The most beautiful poinsettia I have ever seen was in Hawaii. We had just arrived at our hotel and walking up the walk to the door...I was bowled over by the huge plant next to the building. I asked (remember I knew nothing about plants at this time) "What is that gorgeous plant?" When I learned it was a poinsettia, I couldn't believe it. It towered over my head and was as wide as my arms could reach. It was full of red blossoms. I had my picture taken with this plant as the background. I couldn't find the picture for this post.
You may be wondering why I am writing about poinsettias in March? I was just reading Dave's Garden this morning, and there was a picture and story about keeping a poinsettia. This is the time to prune them, if you want to keep them. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/4112/ I'm looking at mine...still as pretty as the day I got it...maybe I will do it again. Now, what closet can I use?
Balisha :)