End of the story...

Yes, my mother was right and trying to make the fabled pointsettia bloom a second year was not worth the time. Here (right) is the only real red half-flower.

I stuck in silk flowers (above) and it looked pretty good, if a bit leggy and yellow. I was telling the tale during Christmas Eve dinner, correctly assuming that no one reads my blog, and my brother-in-law Paul interrupted, "Those are artificial flowers? That's a terrible ending!" How true...