Anyone can stage a Poinsettia Festival, but Sumter County, South Carolina, has a special reason.

The colorful plant is named in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), the first ambassador of the United States to Mexico. An avid botanist, Poinsett imported into the United States the plant that has become a symbol of the holiday season. He’s buried in the Church of the Holy Cross in Statesburg (Sumter County), South Carolina.

Sumter’s Poinsettia Festival runs December 3-18, 2010, with seasonal music, a light display, home tours and other holiday activities as well as all those poinsettias.