Dec 4, 2009

Vegas Hotel Incorporates Poinsettias Into Holiday DécorSource: Ecke Ranch

Visitors to Las Vegas will still just be dreaming of a White Christmas, but they’ll be treated to a fabulous wintry display at The Palazzo from Dec. 9 through Jan. 1: a winter décor display anchored by a 16-foot-tall polar bear mother and her 6-foot-tall baby, made entirely of a specially developed white poinsettia named ‘Polar Bear.’

Developed exclusively by Ecke Ranch, ‘Polar Bear’s’ strong white bracts with deep green veining is the perfect topiary fur for the polar bear display. The head and paws have been hand-sculpted and hand-painted by Design Solutions to bring the bears to life. The mother and baby bear, consisting of approximately 10,000 poinsettias planted in sphagnum moss, weighs in at approximately 5,000 lbs. The bears snuggle on a custom-sculpted ‘arctic ice float’ that hovers over a water feature located in the atrium.

The ‘Polar Bear’ poinsettias have an important message to promote awareness of polar bears and the loss of their Arctic habitat amid today’s climate change. Ecke Ranch is donating a portion of the proceeds from each poinsettia cutting sold to Polar Bears International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of polar bears through research and education. This event will serve as the official launching pad for Ecke’s “Pay It Forward for Polar Bears” campaign, which benefits PBI.

“Ecke Ranch endeavors to help save polar bears and our environment, not just with our special poinsettia but with a commitment to sustainable business practices,” said Paul Ecke III, CEO and owner of the Ecke Ranch. “Growing poinsettias can require a lot of heat and energy…Ecke Ranch encourages ‘energy-efficient poinsettias’ by using cold temperature production. It saves energy and can actually produce longer lasting and more intensely colored poinsettias.”

At 5 p.m. on Dec. 9, The Palazzo will unveil the Arctic-inspired winter décor display to kick off the holiday season and raise awareness about conservation of polar bears. For more information on the ‘Polar Bear’ poinsettia, visit Ecke’s poinsettia website.