The colours green and red have long been associated with Christmas.
Green, of evergreens, represents eternal life while red is to remind us of the blood of Jesus.
Do an internet search on the topic and you will learn that the Christmas colour red was confirmed by Haddon Sunblom, an illustrator hired by Coca Cola who made magazine ads showing a bright red jolly Santa.
At Christmastime, it is easy to find green for decorating. A walk in the backyard may reveal spruce, pine, boxwood or cedars that can be cut for festive arrangements. Or look for lush green cedar boughs, mostly imported from British Columbia.
Those looking for red in the garden might have a tougher go.
On the east side of our garage, we have two healthy hollies (Ilex x meserveae ‘Blue Princess’) that give us plenty stems of dark green foliage dotted with bright red berries. Holly’s foliage and berries are long lasting and will remain fresh looking well into the new year.
For some reason, holly is not yet a popular landscape plant. In warmer climates, Blue Princess holly will grow to become six to 10 feet high, but in Sarnia-Lambton, it rarely grows over four feet. Holly will tolerate almost any soil, but prefers well drained, acidic soil. My thriving hollies are planted in sandy soil and enjoy a layer of mulch over their roots.
Blue Princess holly is a female plant requiring a male pollinator to produce berries. Its partner, aptly named Blue Prince, grows slightly faster and lacks berries. Holly produces an abundance of attractive white flowers in spring, followed by green berries that turn vibrant red as the season progresses.
Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) is a native shrub producing bright red berries that might be eaten by birds before you get a chance to cut stems for holiday decorating. Several new varieties of deciduous holly have been introduced lately, boasting a compact size and improved colouring. All hollies are dioecious, meaning female and male are on separate plants. If red berries are the objective, it will be helpful to know that one or two males can take care of several females.
Highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) is a native snowball bush producing flat white flowers in June, followed by small edible red berries resembling cranberries. Berries appear in late summer and are especially attractive for bees and wasps. Drive down Highway 402 between Sarnia and London and you will see many highbush cranberries in the centre median.
Mountain Ash (Sorbus Aucuparia) is a small ornamental tree that has fallen out of favour in recent years. Flowers appear in late spring, followed by heavy clusters of showy red berries in late summer through fall. By Christmas most berries will have deteriorated.
Holiday decorators determined to bring red colour in festive arrangements may want to use red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) stems for a pop of colour. Dogwood is often easy to find in the wild or can be bought in bunches from garden retailers.
The easiest way to find stems with red berries? Buy the fake ones, imported from China, made of Styrofoam with red plastic coating.
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GARDEN CLIPPINGS: Adding red pops of colour to festive decorations
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08.12.2023
The colours green and red have long been associated with Christmas.
Green, of evergreens, represents eternal life while red is to remind us of the blood of Jesus.
Do an internet search on the topic and you will learn that the Christmas colour red was confirmed by Haddon Sunblom, an illustrator hired by Coca Cola who made magazine ads showing a bright red jolly Santa.
At Christmastime, it is easy to find green for decorating. A walk in the backyard may reveal spruce, pine, boxwood or cedars that can be cut for festive arrangements. Or look for lush green cedar boughs, mostly imported from British Columbia.
Those looking for red in the garden might have a tougher go.
On the east side of our garage, we have two healthy hollies (Ilex x meserveae ‘Blue Princess’) that give us plenty stems of dark green foliage dotted with bright red berries. Holly’s foliage and berries are long lasting and will........
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