Christmas trees and paperwhites

According to the timeline in today's Boston Globe, the first recorded Christmas tree appeared in 1510 in Riga, Latvia, and was decorated with fruit, cookies, and candy. That sure beats the entry on the timeline for 2002: "Folding 'pre-lit' Christmas trees are marketed with lighting attached. Just 'open and fluff' approach becomes an instant hit with time-crunched Americans." Eek!

I also noticed on the same page, in Gardener's Week, that it's the season for paperwhites. One of my favorite Christmas presents one year were the paperwhite bulbs a friend gave me in a simple white pot with a bit of gravel. All I had to do was add water and in a few weeks I had these lovely white flowers blooming like it was spring. Amaryllis is nice, too, if you prefer big red trumpets to the daintier paperwhites.

9:07:28 AM      trackback []