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The Christmas Garden
What do you know about Poinsettia's,
Mistletoe and Holly? |
Holly
- The use of Holly as a symbolic winter decoration, with its shiny, prickly leaves and blood-red berries, goes back in history to the Celtic peoples of Northern Europe, who decorated their homes with it during the time of the winter solstice, or Yule.
- The ancient Romans believed that holly warded off lightning strikes and witchcraft and sent boughs of holly to friends during the festival of Saturnalia, also celebrated at the winter solstice.
- The early Christian Church retained many of the Celtic and Roman traditions to help celebrate the birth of Christ. The early Celtic Christians associated the prickly holly leaves with the crown of thorns from the crucifixion and the red berries with the blood of Christ.
- In South America holly is used in making matte, a type of tea drink popular in Argentina. The wood of the holly tree is used in the manufacture of pianos to make black keys due to its solid grain-less appearance.
- Holly extracts have been used in folk remedies for dizziness, hypertension, and even cancer for centuries. New studies from Ireland, as reported in the New Scientist (December 1998), found that extracts from the roots and bark of English holly contain chemicals that look promising for the treatment of skin cancers and for strengthening the immunological effects of vaccines.
- There are about 400 species of holly. The only temperate or tropical regions naturally lacking holly are western North America and Australia. They are sometimes deciduous, but mostly evergreen trees and shrubs, with shoots often angled and alternating leaves. Both males and females have white flowers, but only females have berries. The red 'berries' are technically drupes containing two to eight seeds. The white wood is tough and usually grain-less.
- Evergreen hollies are very hardy attractive trees and shrubs that are ideal for temperate climates. European and Asiatic species are adaptable to most soils and temperate climates, while native North American species usually prefer a neutral or acid soil.
Mistletoe
- Mistletoe has no roots of its own and lives off the tree to which it attaches itself. Without that tree it would die. Mistletoe was thought to be sacred by ancient Europeans.
- The Druids considered mistletoe to be a sacred plant and believed it had miraculous properties which could cure illnesses, serve as an antidote against poisons, ensure fertility and protect against the ill effects of witchcraft. Whenever enemies met under the mistletoe in the forest, they had to lay down their arms and observe a truce until the next day. From this has seemingly come the ancient custom of hanging a ball of mistletoe from the ceiling and exchanging kisses under it as a sign of friendship and goodwill.
- Norsemen offer us a beautiful symbolic myth about mistletoe. The story goes that Mistletoe was the sacred plant of Frigga, goddess of love and the mother of Balder, the god of the summer sun. Balder had a dream of death which greatly alarmed his mother, for should he die, all life on earth would end. In an attempt to keep this from happening, Frigga went at once to air, fire, water, earth, and every animal and plant seeking a promise that no harm would come to her son. Balder now could not be hurt by anything on earth or under the earth. But Balder had one enemy, Loki, god of evil and he knew of one plant that Frigga had overlooked in her quest to keep her son safe. It grew neither on the earth nor under ground, but on the trees. It was lowly mistletoe. So Loki made an arrow tip of the mistletoe, gave to the blind god of winter, Hoder, who shot it, striking Balder dead. The sky paled and all things in earth and heaven wept for the sun god. For three days each element tried to bring Balder back to life. He was finally restored by Frigga, his mother. It is said the tears she shed for her son turned into the pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant and in her joy Frigga kissed everyone who passed beneath the tree on which it grew. The story ends with a decree that who should ever stand under the humble mistletoe, no harm should befall them, only a kiss, a token of love.
- The eighteenth-century English credited mistletoe not with miraculous healing powers, but with a certain social appeal in the form of a "kissing ball." At Christmas time a young lady standing under a ball of mistletoe, brightly trimmed with evergreens, ribbons, and ornaments, cannot refuse to be
kissed. Such a kiss could mean deep romance or lasting friendship and goodwill. If the girl remained unkissed, she cannot expect to marry the following year.
Whether we believe it or not, it always makes for fun and frolic at Christmas celebrations. Top Anglo-Saxon Mistletoe Myth Anglo-Saxons believed the custom of kissing under mistletoe was connected to the legend of Freya, goddess of love, beauty and fertility.
According to legend, a man had to kiss any young girl who, without realizing it, found herself accidentally under a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Top Modern Day Mistletoe Even if the pagan significance has been long forgotten, the custom of exchanging a kiss under the mistletoe can still be found in many European countries as well as in Canada and the United States.
In some regions, if a couple in love exchanges a kiss under the mistletoe, it is interpreted as a promise to marry, as well as a prediction of happiness and long life. In France, the custom linked to mistletoe was reserved for New Year's Day:
"Au gui l'An neuf" (Mistletoe for the New Year).
Today, kisses can be exchanged under the mistletoe any time during the holiday season.
Poinsettia
- The poinsettia is native to Mexico and Central America, where it grows in moist, wet, wooded ravines and on rocky hillsides. It was named for Joel R. Poinsett, who popularized the plant and introduced it to floriculture while he was U.S. minister to Mexico in the late 1820s.
- In warm climates the poinsettia grows outdoors as a winter-flowering leggy shrub about 3 metres (10 feet) high; as a potted plant in northern areas it rarely grows beyond 1 metre. What appear to be petals are actually coloured leaflike bracts that surround a central cluster of tiny yellow flowers. A milky latex in the stems and leaves can be irritating to persons or animals sensitive to it, but the claim that poinsettias are deadly poisonous is greatly exaggerated.
- Cultivated varieties are available with white, pink, mottled, and striped bracts, but the solid red varieties, in several shades, remain in greatest demand during the Christmas season.
- More on the Poinsettia History.
Other Christmas Plants
- Christmas Bells - There are two kinds of bells. One has orange colored flowers (like the Gordon Lily) and the other has a white flower (like the Tropical Mooning Glory).
- Christmas Berry - The berry is a fruit of a plant in the rose family. Another name for it is the California Holly. First white flower bloom, then red berries appear.
- Christmas Berry Tree - Also known as the Brazilian Pepper Tree. It has white flowers and bright red fruit.
- Christmas Bush - This is the Australian Christmas Tree. It is also known as the Officer Plant. In Bermuda they have a shrub that produces yellow flowers. It is a popular plant for hedges.
- Christmas Cactus - Also known as the Crab Cactus or Thanksgiving Cactus. This gorgeous plant has red flowers, broad leaflike spineless stems, magenta or rose-purple flowers and fruit.
- Christmas Daisy - This pretty flower blooms in the fall.
- Christmas Evergreen - Also called the Festoon Pine.
- Christmas Fern - An evergreen fern used for winter decoration.
- Christmas Flower - Lots of different flowers have this name. The Winter Aconite (has one bright yellow flower), the American Hellebore and the poinsettia.
- Christmas Rose - Bears one white or purplish flowers, like single roses.
Back to The Christmas Nook
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