LARGEST FLORAL CARPET

Morelos floral center planted 1.4 hectares of poinsettias to win the Guinness record Mexico now holds the title for the world’s largest carpet of flowers after a Guinness World Record was awarded Saturday to Jardines de México for a 1.45-hectare garden of poinsettias. The floral carpet, itself planted in the shape of a poinsettia, consisted of 130,000 plants, known in Mexico as nochebuenas, whose cultivation began six months ago and required a work force of 150 gardeners, landscape designers, engineers and others. To win the title, Jardines de México, an ornamental floral center in Tehiuxtla, Morelos, had to use live plants, closely spaced and rooted in the ground or in planters. The display features 13 varieties of poinsettia, from Hot Pink and Prestige Red to Orange Spice and Polar Bear and was designed by the gardens’ landscape designer, Óscar Jiménez de León. The privately owned gardens are a popular tourist attraction in Tehiuxtla, a half-hour’s drive from Cuernavaca. Winning a Guinness record was one objective in planting the huge poinsettia garden. The other was to remind Mexicans that the poinsettia is a native Mexican plant. The state of Morelos is Mexico’s principal producer of the flower with 34.5% of total production. The Guinness record had been held since August by Ukraine, which earned the title with a garden consisting of 1.3 hectares of marigolds and petunias.