The holidays are over and if you're like me, you may have a couple of poinsettias hanging around, brightening up these dreary winter days.

Have you ever thought about resurrecting them next Christmas?It will take a little effort and dedication on your part poinsettias can be notoriously finicky and even then, you might not have a brilliant red plant to show off, but it's worth a shot.If you look online you can find a multitude of tips to get those persnickety poinsettias to bloom again. Here are a few from Michigan State University:Late winter and early springThe colorful bracts on your poinsettia should last several months. During this time side shoots should form below the bracts. To have a well-shaped plant for next Christmas, in February or March, cut each of the flowering stems back so that they are 4 to 6 inches in height, leaving one to three leaves on each branch.Keep the plant in a sunny window and the temperature between 60 and 70 degrees. Fertilize every two weeks.Late springIf the plant is too large for its pot, now is the time to repot with a mix of peat moss and vermiculite potting soil.After the danger of frost is gone, and night temperatures are above 50 degrees, sink the potted poinsettia to its rim in the ground in a well-drained, slightly shady spot outdoors. Water frequently. From mid June through the beginning of August, prune all new shoots to about 4 inches, leaving one to three leaves on each shoot. Continue to fertilize.FallAnytime from late August through mid-September, it's time to take your poinsettia back indoors, and definitely before the first frost. Return it to a warm, sunny window and fertilize every two weeks.Now for the hard part: "In order to get your poinsettia to rebloom, the plant must be kept in complete darkness between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. daily from the end of September until color shows in the bracts." This should occur by mid-December.Be sure to keep the night temperature between 60 and 70 degrees.You can accomplish this by leaving the plant in a sunny window during the day, and then moving it to a dark room at night, or even tucking it into a closet until morning.Don't want to be bothered?Denise Sebelin, florist and owner of DeeZines in Jim Thorpe, says you can still enjoy your poinsettia."I have never had luck getting them to color up the following year," she says. "But they can be held over and kept as a houseplant."If that's your intention, she recommends keeping the soil moist and watering them when the soil is dry to the touch."They prefer bright, diffused sunlight, but don't expose them to direct sun."To maintain the poinsettia you have left from Christmas, Sebelin recommends keeping them in a room at moderate temperature and exposing them to bright light and cool nights to maintain their bright colors.Carbon County Master Gardener Eileen East treats her poinsettias as annuals. She keeps them as houseplants during the winter, and then plants them outdoors in the spring, where she can enjoy them until the first frost.For more information on caring for and reblooming poinsettias, go to

www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/point/point.htm.