Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Poinsettia week continues here on Garden Variety, where we are paying tribute to the most popular flowering potted plant in the United States.

The poinsettia has its roots, so to speak, in Mexico, and a legend grew in that country about the Christmas plant.

A little Mexican girl named Pepita was sad because she did not have a present to give to the Christ child at an evening church service.

As she walked to church, she gathered a bouquet of roadside weeds that would be her only gift.

But as she approached the altar, her spirits lifted and she forgot the humbleness of her gift.

When she placed the bouquet at the feet of the Christ child, a miracle occured - the ordinary weeds burst into brilliant red blooms.

Thereafter, the poinsettia was known as Flores de Nochebuena, or Flowers of the Holy Night.

 If you'd like to see my photos from the holiday poinsettia show at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park, check out my Flickr photostream.

If you'd like to see good photos from the show, see Jed Kirschbaum's slide show on the Baltimore Sun Web site.

The show continues through Jan. 3, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it's free.