Looking Forward to Christmas 2
There are adventures waiting for those who keep their eyes open, with Christmas in mind. While traveling in Texas a few years ago, I came across a beautiful white berry and brought some sprays back to Philadelphia. The berry is hard, pure white, and does not drop or shake off when dry. It resembles the familiar snowberry (Sym-phoricarpos albus), but has good qualities which the snowberry and bayberry lack.
In Texas it is called Chinese tallow berry; in Charleston, South Carolina, the natives call it popcorn. The botanical name is Sapium sebiferum. It is the finest white berry I have ever found for Christmas decorations, and few northerners know about it or use it. I wouldn't know about it myself, probably, if I had not been thinking of Christmas in Philadelphia while traveling in Texas.
More familiar materials are plentiful in the early fall. Bayberry should be gathered then, the leaves removed, and branches tied in bunches and hung in an airy place to dry out thoroughly. Later on, in October or early November, branches of black alder berries (Ilex verti-cillata) may be cut and kept in water until needed. They will last much better than those bought in the shops, which have been in storage for some time.
Science has recently come to the aid of the decorator. By spraying with hormone preparations, many fruits and leaves or needles can be prevented from dropping. For those kept standing in water, it helps to add a complete fertilizer, one teaspoonful, or two or three tablets, per quart of water. The cut branches will continue to grow for some time and keep fresh for Christmas.
Obviously, not every attractive fruit or berry can be preserved for use some weeks or months later. A good guide is a pair of observant eyes; berries which stay on the bushes well into the winter can usually be kept fresh indoors for a long time. Examples are the red fruits of the multiflora rose, and the heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica).
The mechanical aids of the decorator—wires of various weights, florists* thread, shellac and sharp shears—ought to be picked up and put away well in advance of their seasonal use. It will cost more money and take a lot of time to buy them when the shopping rush is on.
At any time of the year, next Christmas can be a thing of beauty in the mind's eye. It is a pleasant employment on a quiet evening to make plans, change them and make new ones. In the actual holiday excitement there may be no time for doing a really thoughtful and artistic job.
Looking Forward to Christmas part3
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