Reflections

In a few hours we will be heading out to Lessons & Carols. In the imagery of that tradition, plantings play a prominent role. Roses, holly and ivy, the Jesse tree appear in glorious music and poetry from across the centuries, amid lots of talk of roots and blooming. I've managed both in New York and Michigan to keep holly going, though on Long Island just before we moved into our 1850s home, a tenant sold and removed an enormous tree-proportioned holly that the neighbors said was spectacular. (Moral of the story: never rent out anything you love.). I can't say I feel the same about roses---my husband's least favorite flower. But the so-called Christmas rose or hellebore definitely gets my vote at this time of year. Another literary favorite, the hellebore appears in a Bronte novel, TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL, when the hero jumps out the window into the winter's snow to pick a 'rose' for the woman he loves. Hellebore also took the growing conditions both in Michigan and New York and after a several-year period of adjustment, showed ever sign of 'naturalizing' like mad. The imagery of light at this time of year may be warranted---with the winter solstice just behind us. But as a gardener, for me those cheery lyrics about green things growing get the vote for Most Timely in what otherwise could be a barren season.