Pressed Flowers
from the
View From Below
by Dandy Lion |
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December 26
I made it over to the Colonial Garden today. I wanted to celebrate today – Boxing Day – with a good friend. I don’t really know where the term “Boxing Day” comes from – perhaps it’s a holiday for pugilists or manufacturers of cardboard containers. For me, it’s always a good day to spend with my friends - the Buxus family. Most people just know them as the Boxwoods.
Since the New Year is coming up, I figured I would make some resolutions. I won’t make any promises about exercise or diet. I just can’t stick to those. No matter what type of dirt you stick in front of me, I will enjoy it, so why set myself up for failure. Here goes:
- I resolve to not get pulled by a gardener this year.
 I resolve to visit all the different gardens at NBG. Did you know that there are over thirty theme gardens here? Have you been to the Figure Eight Garden, the Annarino Bog Garden or the Annette Kagan Healing Garden? I’m going to those and all the others.- I resolve to not get pulled by a groundsman this year.
- I am going to meet 10 new trees and shrubs this year.
- I resolve to not get pulled by a garden curator this year.
- I am going to meet 10 new perennials and annuals this year.
- I resolve to not get pulled by a garden teacher this year.
- I am going to give as much food as I can to the honey bees this year. (Did you know I was one of their favorite plants? At least somebody likes me.)
- I resolve to not get pulled by a garden guide this year.
- I resolve to have the brightest yellow flowers for those that appreciate me.
- I resolve to not get pulled by a garden director this year.
- I resolve to enjoy every day of 2008 in Norfolk Botanical Garden. I hope you do too.
December 20
This morning I’m in the Camellia Garden. Normally I would prefer to be in a sunnier location, especially on a cold day like today, but I wanted to come visit my friend the Yuletide Camellia (Camellia x vernalis ‘Yuletide’). I decided being next to this beautiful flowering plant would be a great way to celebrate the holidays.
Of course, these days the yuletide means Christmas time with a decorated tree and holly and mistletoe and the burning of a Yule log. Some of these traditions actually predate the Christmas story and were originally associated with the winter solstice –  the shortest day (and longest night) of the year. Since the winter solstice is on Saturday and Christmas on Tuesday, I figured I could enjoy the company of my friend for several days.
I must say the Yuletide camellia is a particularly nice plant. It’s about eight or ten feet tall – it’s hard to accurately estimate heights when I’m down here. The shrub boasts refined glossy, dark-green leaves. They are smaller than leaves on a Camellia japonica, which is a clear indication that one parent was a Camellia sasanqua, which is a fall blooming camellia. It has brilliant red flowers with bright yellow stamens. The red and green make the perfect color scheme for the Christmas season. It certainly has a festive look.
At this time of year there are several different camellias in bloom throughout the garden and many are worth visiting. From white to red and lots of shades in between, this is a good plant for the Christmas season. Oddly enough, there are very few Christmas traditions associated with this plant. I think mainly because it did not arrive in Europe or the Americas until the early 19th century, and many traditions were already established. I would suggest taking a walk through the camellia garden is a good tradition for anyone to start.
Well, since the sun is making only brief appearances for the next few days it looks like a good time to snooze until the party starts. Have a great holiday!
December 13
I left the Holly Garden a couple of days ago. I like the hollies and all, but sometimes their personalities are a little too prickly for me. I headed over to the Rose Garden and have been enjoying the sunshine during the day and the lights during the night. Lots of roses are still in bloom right now. We’ve just haven’t had that much cold weather yet, so the mild fall has allowed the roses to really last.
In the evenings, lots of cars drive by during Garden of Lights. I notice that the cars seem to have a shorter wait earlier in the week so if you hate lines, Monday through Wednesdays are probably the best nights for you to come. However, it doesn’t seem to bother most people, because I hear lots of happy voices as they drive by no matter what night they come. The lights must be really good this year. I know what I’ve seen so far is great.
 I’m going to tell you a secret, but you must promise not to tell the gardeners. I am right under some mistletoe in a tree. Of course you know what you have to do now.
Mistletoe is an interesting plant. It is a partial parasite. It is most often found growing on other plants – sending its roots into a tree to take up nutrients. However, it can also produce its own food through photosynthesis and can grow on its own without a host plant. There are two types – the traditional European mistletoe (Viscum album) and a North American native (Phoradendron flavescens) whose company I am enjoying right now.
The European mistletoe is the source of many legends and customs that we know today. It was thought to posses mystical powers and was hung from ceilings and doorways to ward off evil spirits and provided protection from witchcraft and sorcery. Romans started kissing under the hanging plant during Saturnalia festivals. It became a Christmas tradition long before Christmas trees appeared on the scene. Proper etiquette requires a man to pluck one of the white berries when he kisses a woman under the mistletoe and when the last berry is gone, there should be no more kissing under the mistletoe.
Frankly, I need some people to show me some love. I’m called a weed and I’ve done no harm while the parasite hanging over my head is part of a beloved tradition. The irony has not escaped me. So here I sit, under the mistletoe with plenty of white berries. I’m just waiting for you.
December 7
After the close call last week, I decided to find a spot where most gardeners wouldn’t want to go – under the prickliest English holly in the Holly Garden. I’ve gotten a chance to calm down over “the incident” and get back to enjoying the garden.
This is a good time of year to be in the Holly Garden. Many of the plants are putting out berries right now so I can see splashes of red and yellow against the green  backdrop of these evergreen hollies. I am impressed with the diversity of types found here; there are mostly hollies from North America and Asia, but a few English hollies grow in the garden as well.
I hear the tram drive by this garden a couple of times a day and they seem to be telling holiday stories about hollies. People have used hollies in winter festivals for ages. There are comparable traditions in Germany, England and Wales about people using hollies to foretell who would rule the household in the coming year. Supposedly people thought that hollies with prickly leaves were masculine (and called them he-hollies) while smooth-leaved hollies were feminine (she-hollies). If the he-holly came into the house first, the man would be in charge and if the she-holly was the first through the door, the woman would be in charge. It just makes me laugh thinking about people racing to get some holly into the house. What is even funnier is that there really are male and female plants (they’re dioeceous – like the ginkgo), but the shape of the leaf has nothing to do about whether it is a boy or a girl. American holly has spiky leaves, but there are boy plants and girl plants. The female plants make berries and the males don’t. That’s how you tell them apart. Still, it’s a fun legend, isn’t it?
Perhaps one of the nicest things about being the Holly Garden right now is not being with all these cool hollies, but  smelling the False Holly. Really there are several types of False Holly in the garden, including one known as Fortune’s Osmanthus. They are so sweet smelling right now that it is intoxicating. The flowers are pretty small but potent. You almost have to look right at the tree to notice them. I get a tickle watching people walk down the main path by the garden and they stop when they smell the scent of the False Holly. They look around, trying to find the source of the smell, but are confused when they don’t see a mass of bright flowers. It just goes to show that if you get off the beaten path now and then, you might find a charming plant like the False Holly – or me!
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Azalea Garden Road
Norfolk,
Virginia 23518
(757)
441-5830
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