Now you received a poinsettia as a gift, now how do you care for it?
Give it bright light (a sunny window if not too hot) and keep out of cold areas like drafts. The biggest problem you may have is the dropping of the leaves. The main cause is how you water the plant. Too much water or too little water will cause leaf drop. Water when the top of the soil medium is dry and wait till it dries out to water again. Be sure to remove the foil wrapper to let the excess water drain away. Also if the plant got chilled before receiving, the leaves will drop. A few leaves will drop as the plant ages. Do not worry about this.
As the plant ages, the bracts will fall off sometime in February. Prune your poinsettia back to 6 inches tall leaving a couple of leaves on each stem. The plant will grow new shoots. At this time fertilizer with a houseplant fertilizer every two or three weeks. In May, repot into a slightly larger pot and prune back if needed. Now if you want, move your plant outside when the night temps are above 55 degrees with afternoon shade. In mid-summer pinch out the tops of the stems to promote side branching.
Now the next part is critical. In the fall take your plant indoors before it gets too cold. Place the plant in a dark spot for around 14 hours of COMPLETE darkness every day like a closet around the first of October. Then return to a sunny window each day. Stop fertilizing. Keep doing this until the bracts start to color and then treat as a new poinsettia.