The first thing to do is unwrap it as soon as possible after you receive it. Place it in a location where it will receive at least six hours of bright, but not direct, light. Avoid putting it near windows, doors or heating vents because they really hate any kind of drafts and it may drop all its leaves. This can also happen if the plant is suddenly moved to a lower light area.

Watering isn't too difficult. Feel the top of the soil every once in a while and if it's dry to the touch water till it just comes out the drainage holes at the bottom. Throw away any water that accumulates in the saucer. If poinsettias get too wet or too dry they will--you got it--drop all their leaves!

You don't need to fertilize the plants for the first blooming season, but after that it gets a bit trickier. There are several ways you can handle the plants after they quit blooming.

If you are like me, you may feel that having a poinsettia around the living room is like keeping the Christmas decorations up through Easter! As much as I hate wasting any plants, my poinsettias become compost material as soon as the bloom is off the plant.

There are ways, however, to keep them and have them flower next Christmas. In early spring, when the bracts (the red or pink part that looks like a flower) begin to fade, prune the plant back to about 8 inches high. Take off any of the colored bracts, and leave three to four green leaves per shoot. Begin fertilizing with a balanced organic fertilizer every few weeks through fall. If things are going well, by June you should see lots of new growth.

At that time, transplant to a 2 to 4 in. larger in diameter pot, then prune off all the new shoot's tips. There should be two to three leaves left on each new shoot.

Keep it pinched back and in late September, begin a special darkening period which is what will make the poinsettia bloom again for you. They are very finicky about this routine, and will not bud if any light penetrates their darkness. Every day give them 9 to 10 hours of bright indirect light and then 14 to 15 hours of darkness. You can put them in a closet or try covering them with a completely opaque cloth, a box, or a black plastic garbage bag. By the first of December they can be treated like normal house plants again and with luck you'll have beautiful blooms for Christmas.

If you don't want to go to all that trouble and the compost heap seems like a waste, just prune your poinsettia back when it finishes flowering and enjoy it as a beautiful foliage plant.

If no one has surprised you with a poinsettia as a gift yet, by all means go buy one for yourself. There are some beautiful and very unusual ones at the nurseries now. My favorite is `Jingle Bells' because it has the traditional red but what makes it interesting is the streaks of white which remind me of candy canes. I also saw a lovely pink one named `Pink Peppermint' that had very large bracts that are an unusual shell pink. I have even seen a miniature poinsettia advertised in a catalog that is only 5 inches tall!