Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? There has been a controversy over whether it is good to say one or the other. Personally if someone wishes me to be “Merry” or to be “Happy” – I am glad either way. Our entire Christmas celebration is filled with customs adopted or borrowed from other lands and cultures, so I think we should all be more tolerant and forgiving in the Spirit of Christmas.
The date we celebrate Christmas comes from Ancient Rome, when the Emperor Aurelius declared December 25 as “The Birthday of the Unconquered Son”. The ancient Persians also celebrated Dec. 25 as the birthday of another god –Mithras. Christians did not even note the day of his birth until the fourth century. Even then, many church fathers were opposed to celebrating Christ’s birth, as they considered His death and resurrection much more important, and thought any sort of celebrating God/Christ’s birthday as pagan. “Pagans” typically celebrated the birthdays of their gods, and no mention is made in the New Testament of celebrating the day of Christ’s birth. Was Jesus actually born on Christmas? Not likely, Biblical scholars have varying opinions; they say He could have been born in September, October, or March.
The custom of having a Christmas tree goes back a thousand years to a legend about St. Boniface. It is said he came upon a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. In anger, he chopped it down, and supposedly a young fir tree sprang up in its place. But it was not until five hundred years later that people began to bring fir trees indoors. Martin Luther is said to have started this custom by cutting down a small fir tree and decorating it with lit candles to delight his children on Christmas. It remained a German custom until Queen Victoria married the German Prince Albert and brought the custom to England and then to America. Decorating with evergreens and holly goes back even further. Many ancient cultures, such as the Druids and Romans brought greens indoors during the winter solstice to defy the deadness of winter and to symbolize the hope of returning new life in spring.
I personally love decorating with living plants and fresh greenery. I had a “fake” Christmas tree for some years. I got very tired of it and now I always purchase a fresh evergreen with its loveable imperfections and its wonderful fragrance. If you prefer the convenience of an artificial tree, you can still add living accents to your home for the season. I know that local garden stores have fresh pine roping and wreaths still available. Another wonderful thing to add fragrance and freshness is a rosemary tree. Rosemary is my favorite herb. These are available at this time of year in garden centers and plant departments of large groceries. After Christmas you can cut off sprigs to add to pork, lamb, chicken and beef dishes. Rosemary plants like a cool location in a sunny window, and don’t like to be over or under watered – try once a week. Topiaries of living ivy are also available in wreath and other forms – these are really attractive. I also plant to buy some fresh red roses to put around my home for Christmas – this too looks very festive. I love how one can buy fresh flowers at local groceries very inexpensively. If you purchase fresh roses be sure to prepare them right when you get home. Fill a pot or bowl with water and cut each individual stem underwater before placing it in your container.
Religious intolerance in England actually gave us one of our most loved Christmas songs – The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Supposedly the Catholics in England made up the song to teach their children catechism, when the Church of England between 1558-1829 forbade the open practice of Catholicism. The Partridge in a Pear Tree is supposed to represent Christ. The mother partridge will protect her children by feigning injury to distract predators like Christ sacrificed himself for us. The rest of the symbolism is as follows:
2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking = the eight Beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments
11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful Apostles
12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed
(from the Catholic Information Network – www.cin.org)

Gifts for Gardeners

Are you ready for more gift ideas for the gardener/gardeners in your life? I have more ideas. There are some neat tools that you may not even know about. A “dibber” is a tool that I read about a few years ago. It is not new, just not commonly sold and known. I never bought one until just a few months ago. What is a dibber? It is a tool about a foot long with a sharp point at one end and a crossways handle on the other end. You can use it to make quick holes to the depth of your choice for purposes such as seed planting, setting out young new transplants, and for planting smaller bulbs. I used it this fall for planting about 100 bulbs in a very short time. Poked a hundred holes – dropped in the bulbs – rubbed some dirt over the top to fill in the holes – Voila! I had one hundred Iris reticulata planted in less than thirty minutes. It would fit neatly in a Christmas stocking. I bought mine at www.smith-hawken.com.
Books about gardening are another great idea – there is always more to learn about gardening and a gardening book helps pass the time until one can get one’s hands back in the dirt. For those who desire to learn more about the care and management of perennials I recommend “Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques,”
by Tracy DiSabato-Aust and her companion book - The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs.
“Roses for Dummies” is a good starter book for someone who wants to grow more roses but doesn’t know too much about them yet.
One of my very favorite gardening books I have ever read is “Dirt” by Dianne Benson. Dianne used to have her own clothing store in New York City and then decided to garden and then wrote a book - her book is highly opinionated, personal, very informative and inspirational. Richardson Wright used to be the editor of House and Garden magazine in the 1920’s and 30’s. He was a prolific horticultural writer and published several books – one of which would certainly be a wonderful gift – “The Gardener’s Bed Book” – a collection of 365 amusing and informative little essays about all sorts of things pertaining to gardening. After all these years it is now a beloved classic. www.amazon.com is my favorite place to buy books. Another one I discovered is “Green Thoughts” a collection of gardening essays by Eleanor Pernyi – an author who formerly was editor of Mademoiselle magazine and who used to be married to a Hungarian baron. I am currently not able to put this one down until I finish.
A subscription to a good gardening magazine would also be appreciated. In my opinion the best ones are “Organic Gardening,” “Horticulture,” and “Fine Gardening.”
For a child (or the your inner child – yes, we all have one!) how about a Flower Fairy? Pinetree Garden Seeds (mentioned last week) also carries a very cute selection of Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower fairy gift sets – including a polystone Flower Fairy, a book – “Flower Fairies of the Garden,” and a packet of seeds. They look so cute tucked in somewhere surprising in your garden.
A trip to an antique store also yields gift ideas for the gardener – vintage picturesque zinc watering cans, old flower frogs, vintage pots, charmingly aged framed pictures of flowers, old wrought iron gates and fence sections – all these add “character” to a garden or room.
A garden ornament is also a wonderful gift and here you can give a small or a big gift if you so desire. Statues of St. Francis, the Virgin Mary, various animals, etc. are all popular. I love my St. Francis statue that my mom gave me a few years ago. Surprise your gardener with a new fountain, or a card that says a small pond will be installed – the sky’s the limit!