In the Garden holiday plants By ray mikula
The winter holidays are upon us with lights and candles, holly and mistletoe, poinsettias and amaryllis, and trees and Yule logs. Whatever your holiday traditions, we associate many plants with the holidays. Bringing evergreen branches and trees indoors has been a human tradition for hundreds of years as a reminder of the life to come again as the days begin to get Mistletoe has a history of longer. medicine and healing stretching back thousands of years. But the kissing and fertility traditions come from the Druids who saw it as something that could bloom even in winter and considered it a symbol of vivacity. Norse mythology had a story that the goddess Frigg declared it a symbol of love and she would kiss anyone that Poinsettias are a walked beneath it. Mexican native. A Mexican legend was told of a girl named Pepita who had nothing to take for the Baby Jesus at her church on Christmas Eve. Her cousin told her any gift would be loved by Jesus. She picked
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December 2021
some weeds along the way and left them by the creche. They turned into beautiful red flowers. After that they became known as flowers of the Holy Night. Amaryllis became associated with Christmas because it is a winter bloomer like Christmas cactus. Outside in our gardens we can give wildlife a holiday gift as well. Late flowering plants like Camellia and Encore Azaleas give pollinators some food in December. American Holly, a native of our area, looks great as a decoration indoors but also feeds wildlife outdoors after the berries sweeten up in January. Planting Winterberry and Beauty Berry will feed the birds in winter. Evergreen bushes and
Front porch fredericksburg
shrubs can provide winter shelter and some protection from predators. Leaving Cone flowers and Black Eyed Susans standing in the winter provides seeds for birds and wildlife. If you see Winged Sumac growing on your property, let it grow into a small tree because it is great for wildlife. Winged sumac grow wild near the forest edge and provide food for rabbits, turkey, deer, and birds, and is the host plant for Luna moths. Having a bird bath filled with water helps not only the birds but also small mammals. Some are heated making sure on cold mornings there is a plentiful supply of drinking water for our outside friends.
December is the last month in our area to plant spring bulbs. By now, most retailers are trying to get rid of any leftover stock and you can usually get a deal on them. Although deer and voles decimate tulips in our area, daffodils are usually left alone to flourish. Wreaths are often evergreen. MGACRA (Master Gardeners Association) will have about 15 Boxwood Wreaths for sale this year through RAAI in early December. And if you're already looking forward to Spring perhaps the Annual Seed Swap on January 29th at the Rouser Building in Stafford will get you in the mood. Till next time.
Ray Mikula is a Master Gardener.He has several acres of garden space & has been gardening for 62 years. Before retiring Ray was a Earth Science & Astronomy Teacher photos by Ray
