The Iowa State Horticulture Club is hosting its annual poinsettia fundraiser this week. 

The poinsettias are available for sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday in Beardshear Hall, Friday in the Memorial Union and Saturday at Reiman Gardens.

Prices range from $12 for those in smaller pots to $35 for larger ones. They will be available in a multitude of different colors.  

The 750 plants the club is selling do not just appear overnight. The Horticulture Club starts the process of growing the poinsettias sometimes before classes begin.

“The students get in the cuttings way back in August, a lot of times they are coming in before they come back,” said Barb Clawson, advisor of the club.

Members of the group then take care of the plants, help control pests that threaten them and even make a financial model for the fundraiser as a whole.

There was a great increase in preorder sales from previous years. Last year, there were 80 preorder sales while this year there were 202.

“It’s very phenomenal,” said Skyler Brazel, Horticulture Club secretary and poinsettia chair. “It’s a lot of hard work though that went behind the scenes processing orders.”

Brooke Jerie, president of the club, not only loves the hands-on experience the fundraiser brings, but the impact it has on the Iowa State community.

“It’s something that we do every year; it’s a lot of fun,” Jerie said. “But then also outreach to the university and the students to show them what we can do and provide a little holiday cheer for everyone.”