Poinsettias are a holiday season staple and there are a few things you can do as a consumer to make your purchase last to the New Year. Andrew King, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research ornamental specialist and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences, said nurseries and retail stores will soon be fully stocked with poinsettias. While many may assume the colorful portions of the plant are flower petals, they really are modified leaves known as bracts.