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Bringing evergreens indoors

2010 December 9
by Robert

PHOTO BY KEN MOORE. Red-berried holly is a special tradition this time of year.


By Ken Moore
Flora Columnist

When I was a youngster, bringing evergreen holly branches indoors at Christmas time just seemed like the thing to do.

Now, because of protective landowners and deer hunters, it’s difficult and dangerous to attempt to collect a few holly branches from the local woods, like in the old days. Red-berried branches of American holly, Ilex opaca, bring premium prices at local markets. Some folks are fortunate to have specimens of this common forest tree growing on their property to carefully prune for indoor decoration.

How well I remember one Christmas when my dad and I cut a little holly tree from my aunt’s farm, thinking it would be a nice change from the traditional red cedar. We were pleased to have a different kind of tree for the holidays. I also remember how sad I felt when my mom, who grew up in the holly-barren Midwest, lamented: “It just doesn’t seem like Christmas without a real Christmas tree.”

I didn’t know then about the heritage of bringing holly and other evergreens indoors during the winter solstice. Hollies were revered as sacred trees. Holly legends are legend themselves.

Christian symbolism includes references to the spiny-leaved holly branches being the “crown of thorns” of Christ, whose blood colored the berries red.

One story describes a little shepherd boy feeling sad that he had only a holly branch to offer the Christ child. When the baby Jesus touched the branch, the berries turned a beautiful red.

Alternatively, the Romans used gifts of holly as good-luck charms during Saturnalia festivities and, during that time, Christians were forbidden to decorate with holly.

The ancient Druids and other early Europeans considered the holly very sacred and hung branches outside entrances and brought branches indoors as protection against witches and evil spirits. Friendly forest elves and fairies were believed to inhabit the evergreen limbs of holly and were thus provided warmth and comfort inside dwellings during the cold winter solstice period.

Boughs of evergreen cedar, spruce, fir and pine were all similarly considered special plants during the winter solstice.

Mistletoe, a common plant parasite on oaks and hickories, was particularly revered by the Druids, who associated it with renewal and rejuvenation at the end of the year. It later became a symbol of love, a tradition still enjoyed by folks today.

Tomorrow, the big holiday wreath goes up on the front of Carrboro Town Hall, in time for the Friday evening tree lighting and carol singing. Take time in the next week or two to take a closer look at the evergreens on that giant wreath, a creation of members of the Carrboro Community Garden Club. For more than two decades, that group has provided the holiday greenery that adorns our Town Hall.

See if you can identify the diversity of the evergreens used. The group makes an effort to use only locally native plants. You will undoubtedly find holly, as well as pine and cedar. If you look really close, you may even find a sprig or two of mistletoe.

Whatever legends appeal to your personal feelings, pause this season when you bring holly and other greenery indoors, and consider it special, a symbol of warmth, protection and a connection with the natural world.

Email Ken Moore at flora@carrborocitizen.com.

PHOTO BY KEN MOORE. Carrboro Community Garden Club’s giant evergreen wreath is a seasonal tradition for Carrboro Town Hall.

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