Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 20, 2024 Saugus Gardens in the Winter Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener W inter has arrived, and for the most part it is a quiet time outdoors in the garden and landscape, with most plants dormant as long as the ground is frozen. There are still many birds and animals active and hungry; however, and you never know what you will see until you get out there. In the last days of the year, there are a number of major and minor holidays celebrated by different people, and plants are often part of the celebration. Many of the trees, shrubs, flowering perennials and annuals, and even parasitic vines (this last would include mistletoe (Viscum alba) had pagan associations in northern Europe before Christianity adopted some of the traditions. Others have more recent connections, like the poinsettia mentioned last week and amaryllis, which is one of the most popular indoor tender bulbs – often blooming indoors in winter. The earliest Christmas decorations were apples hung on the trees, and these are often considered the inspiration behind the red balls that are probably the most popular simple decoration. In northern climates, apples would be considered a treat in December although it would still be possible to find some that late A festive gathering of seasonal decorations takes place on a lawn in the neighborhood near Appleton’s Pulpit. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) Debbie Elliott’s “Apple Blossom” amaryllis has five buds about to bloom at just the right time of year! (Photo courtesy of Joanie Allbee) in the season because they keep pretty well in a cool location protected from frost, like a root cellar. The main reason they were hung on the tree, though, was because Christmas Eve was also known as the feast day of Adam and Eve. In some traditions, the Christmas tree is not supposed to be put up or decorated until Christmas Eve – for much of my husband’s childhood, his parents adhered to this tradition. My family tended to put it up earlier, and the date varied depending on when we had time to go tree shopping, although it tended to be sometime in mid-December. John Gaines, presently a resident of Virginia but the grandson of the late Saugus residents Katharina and Manley Gaines, recently wrote a blog post for the library in Fredericksburg, Va., about the history of Christmas trees, which I found very interesting: https://www.librarypoint. org/blogs/post/christmastrees-past There’s rosemary, that’s for A squirrel perches on the head of Eleanor Barry’s donkey garden ornament in East Saugus. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) The last full moon of 2024 peers through clouds last Sunday, Dec. 15 over Birch Pond in Lynnhurst. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) remembrance,” said Shakespeare’s character Ophelia in “Hamlet,” and because it is evergreen it is sometimes pruned and used as an ornamental tree around Christmas or used as a flavoring for festive foods. Unfortunately, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is not reliably hardy north of zone 7, although sometimes it can be kept indoors through the winter. Perhaps we should think of it as a New Year’s plant, or at least one appropriate for New Year’s Eve, as we remember the events of the year past This squirrel nicknamed “Whitey” for the white spot on its ear steals a sunflower seed from the birdfeeder near Eleanor Barry’ s deck. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) and share hopes for the new one. Tea (Camellia sinensis) may not be particularly associated with Christmas but certainly is remembered with a date in American history that took place on December 16, 1773 – the Boston Tea Party; 251 years ago this month, boxes of tea were thrown into the harbor in protest of the tax. So perhaps I should say coffee is associated with wintertime, too, since the colonists sought out alternative warm drinks, so this occurrence made tropical coffee trees – specifically Arabian coffee (Coffea arabica) and robusta coffee (Coffea canefora) – very significant plants for their use as a substitute for tea. Herbal teas were also important alternatives to indicate resistance to English rule and could include many plants. Chocolate (Theobroma cacao), too, has become a flavor people often associate with winter, both as a steamGARDENS | SEE PAGE 18 This squirrel is clearly grateful for the availability of fresh water beside Eleanor Barry’s deck in this season of frozen ponds. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener)
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