Garden Guide With James Kilkelly

DO you know the Christmas three? No, that's not a typo, I actually mean the Christmas three, as in the number three. I'm talking about the three horticultural decorations that will grace house interiors over the upcoming festive period. They are: Number one, our native Irish holly, number two, the poinsettia, and number three, mistletoe. Over the holiday season these are some of the most desirable indoor plants, aside from the ever-present Christmas tree. Here is how I would rate them: â€Â¢Native Irish holly Our native holly plant has a strong association with Christmas, one that can be traced back to the Celtic druids. These 'wise men' regarded holly as the king of winter, its evergreen leaves and bright red berries reaching the height of their glory on the winter solstice (December 21). Even the arrival of the Church in Ireland did nothing to dent the holly's popularity as a traditional Christmas decoration. Its prickly leaves were called upon to symbolise Christ's crown of thorns and its red berries to illustrate the blood that flowed during the crucifixion. Cut holly is readily available for sale in garden centres and florists but the freshest comes from your own garden, should you have had the foresight to establish some. Probably the most important tip I can pass on to those of you cutting holly to bring indoors for the Christmas holidays is to cut away no more than a third of the holly plant. Excessive cutting causes fewer flowers to be produced, which ultimately results in fewer berries for all of us next season, and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without holly berries. Christmas gardener rating: Two stars. â€Â¢Poinsettia A familiar, indoor, decorative Christmas plant, the poinsettia's greatest asset is the blood-red colour its modified leaves display during the holiday season. These colourful leaves (called bracts) easily swamp the plant's quite inconspicuous flowers. Bearing the horticulturally correct, Latin name of Euphorbia pulcherrima, poinsettia is also known as the Mexican flame tree. This common name points to Mexico (Central America) as its region of origin. Not as easily attainable as holly in Ireland, in that you can't just go out to your garden and pluck one of these plants, the poinsettia is thankfully readily available in garden centres, florists, and supermarkets. How long the plant maintains its festive ruddiness is down to how you treat it once you get it home. Find a location away from draughts and one that will not dip below 13° Celsius, so ideally I'd be avoiding those front hallways. Give it access to moderate daylight, and water only when the surface of the compost begins to dry out. Christmas gardener rating: Three stars. â€Â¢Mistletoe I'm guessing there are many people throughout Ireland who have never actually seen a sprig of real mistletoe, let alone kissed beneath one. It's so rare that most houses will resort to hanging up an artificial copy of this plant. The place where real mistletoe likes to hang out is among the branches of trees, particularly hardwood trees like apple, oak and lime. Mistletoe is a partially parasitic plant that grows on these trees, leeching off their available water and nutrients. It is a sort of vampire plant which preys on trees. Luckily for us, mistletoe is evergreen, making it easy to spot the plant growing among the leafless winter branches of most deciduous trees. Look out for what appears to be a large crow's nest of oval, green, leathery leaves. If this growth also contains dense clusters of waxy white berries, you have been lucky enough to find a female, fruiting mistletoe of the kissing kind. Our Christmas tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is thought to have come from the ancient druids' belief that mistletoe was related to fertility. According to custom, any boy and girl who meet under a hanging cluster of berried mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The man should pluck one of the white berries for each kiss, then when all these berries are gone, that's your lot. Christmas gardener rating: Five stars and loved-up couple rating of ten stars. Well, how will your home score this holiday season? Until next week, happy gardening and remember that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.