MATC Horticulture students sell their own poinsettias

MEQUON -- Red, white and pink poinsettias are one of the most popular plants used for decorating during the holiday season.

Students at the Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Mequon Campus have been working hard to sell their own.  All the poinsettia plants they’re selling are grown inside greenhouses on campus.

“We have somewhere around 400 poinsettias and we have additionally just several hundred other plants,” horticulture instructor Laurie Weiss said.

The poinsettias are planted from cuttings, monitored and prepared by a dozen students from the Horticulture Department's Greenhouse Production Class.

“We get them in as early as August and they continue producing them, take care of them and learn along the way,” Weiss said.

It's a process that takes nearly four months.

This week, their final project is the holiday plant sale.

“Seeing all the plants we have, seeing that we do this and, you know, how we bring all this up is pretty awesome,” horticulture student Nick Weber said.

“It's a lot of fun that they get to help and their help actually goes to help offset the costs,” Weiss said.

Most of the profits from the sale go back to the horticulture club and the classes themselves.  The money helps pay for materials and trips to competitions.

“My goal is to sell everything, help beautify that little place in your home and help celebrate the holiday season,” Weber said.

The plants are being sold from $4 to $15, depending on size and bundles.  Some of the profits will also be donated to the Sojourner Family Peace Center, which works with victims of domestic violence.

The poinsettia sale will take place Tuesday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and then the same hours next Monday through Wednesday -- in the main entrance foyer on the Mequon campus.