SHOPPERS have been greeted with a sea of red at Wyevale Garden Centre in Bicester as scarlet Poinsettia plants brighten winter.

Store assistant Myrriam Buck-Bohan presented one of a series of stunning displays throughout the store at Bicester Avenue Shopping Centre.

Ironically the plants, known to bring a splash of colour at the chilliest time of year, have to be sold in special sleeves as they don’t like the cold. Miss Buck-Bohan said the store will almost certainly sell out of the popular seasonal plants in the run-up to Christmas, when there is a surge in demand.

Six plants are expected to be sold each minute across the company’s 184 UK stores.

She said: “I like these plants, I think they are very pretty. It’s the colour of them because they are such a deep red. That’s why customers go for them.”

Store manager Helen Pyttlik said the plants originate from Mexico.

There they were used from the 16th century onwards in religious ceremonies, the colour red symbolising the blood of Christ.

The store expects a record 85,000 shoppers through the doors in the run-up to Christmas.

 

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