Encinitas: Our History and People

Roberts Poinsett. A botanist, physician and the
first United States ambassador to Mexico (1825-
1829), Poinsett was so fascinated by
the ruby red-bloomed plant in Mexico that
he sent cuttings to his home in Charleston,
South Carolina.
“My grandfather and great-grandfather were
so impressed by these flowers,” said Paul Ecke
III, who has a BS in horticulture from Colorado
State University and an MBA from Duke
University. “And, they were even more
impressed that they bloomed in the middle of
winter. Most flowers don’t bloom in November
and December.”
Paul Ecke, Sr., began promoting the
poinsettia as the Christmas flower. If the rose
was synonymous with Valentine’s Day and the
lily with Easter, why couldn’t this red flower be
attached to Christmas? It seemed only natural.
“My grandfather is the one who declared the
poinsettia will be the Christmas flower,” said
Paul Ecke III. “He thought if you kept saying it
over and over again, people would believe it.”
The Ecke family and their flower business
has been linked to Encinitas since 1923, when
Paul Sr. and Magdalena moved to the area. The
town had only 600 inhabitants back then. They
built a business that at its height produced more
than 90% of the world’s poinsettia stock and
employed 450 people at the Encinitas Ranch.
Paul Sr. and Magdalena also showed their
compassionate side in ways that weren’t always
popular. During World War II, Japanese
Americans were sent to internment camps.
Many of them were farmers who lived in
Encinitas and were their friends and neighbors.
The Eckes felt the situation was wrong and did
the only thing they could, which was to offer to
store their trucks, tractors and personal
belongings in the Ecke Ranch Barns. When they
returned, all of their property was waiting for
them which allowed them to start over again.
Unfortunately, many others weren’t as fortunate,
and their property was gone when they came
back. “Our Grandparents saved their belongings
and allowed them to more easily return to their
former life,” said Paul Ecke III.
For Paul Ecke, Sr., and his father, it was
an outdoor business. Beginning in Los Angeles
G
Above: Bare Root poinsettias being
shipped by rail circa 1960 from the
Encinitas Train Station, now Pannikin
Coffee & Tea in Leucadia
Below: The three Pauls in 1965—
Paul Ecke, Jr., Paul Ecke III, and Paul
Ecke, Sr.
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