What is Christmas? .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

What is Christmas?  

For those of us living in Australia, Christmas is a flurry of hot bright sunshine, summer holidays, busy air-conditioned shopping centres and Christmas light filled streets where homes vie with each other to present the brightest display. 

And the sights, sounds and smells  of Christmas heighten the anticipation of wonder and joy for small children barely able to lisp full sentences.  Christmas carol events  where plastic sticks that glow in the dark are waved (no longer the smell of wax candles flickering in the dark) and well-known words evoke images of joy and peace.  

And then the anticipated delight of gathering with  generations of family to create happy dashes of memory for our loved ones.  These ideals fuel our rush to 'do' Christmas.  

Wrapping paper and Christmas trees, wish lists and Christmas decorations. Christmas lunch menus.  Will we do a cold lunch of seafood or a 'traditional' roast turkey?   Who's turn is it to host Christmas lunch this year?  Will we give individual gifts or do a Chris Kringle with one gift bought by an allocated purchaser for each guest?    And we're running out of time with Christmas coming up quickly.  Oh the rush, rush, rush that leaves us frazzled at the edges!! 

And for many, Christmas evokes memories of loved ones lost too soon, of sadness and unfulfilled expectations of past Christmases with memories of anxiety fuelled family gatherings.   

Christmas blurred beneath family tensions that have festered from year to year.  Or lonely Christmases endured with stoic determination to 'not care'; that this is just one day like any other.  





But, what if we stopped for a moment and deliberately took time to re-think Christmas.  

Time to ponder the Christ in  Christmas. If we put a halt on the business of multiple expectations and preparations. If we decided on purpose to de-clutter our Christmas; to stop and 'smell the roses'.  A slower Christmas filled with the wonder of simplicity and peace?  What could Christmas look and smell like? How could it sound?


Just as there is a movement for slow food and flowers that are seasonal, grown with care and enjoyed with delight and appreciation .. 

what if we created a slow Christmas?

Perhaps ...

A simple string of pearl lights 

hung in a window casting a softer hue over Christmas preparations. 

Lights that last from year to year without the need to be replaced annually.

A wrapped gift (shopped for with our children) placed under a communal Christmas tree for those who wouldn't otherwise have gifts at Christmas.




 
A gift that signifies the sharing of our bounty with others less fortunate.  









A live Christmas tree selected and purchased after an outing visiting a Christmas tree farm, or at the markets where cut trees are sold.


Decorated with ornaments handed down.  And the smell of fresh pine filling the house with scents of Christmas. 

Christmas carols playing in the background sounding pastoral scenes of babes in mangers (and with all other screens turned off!!).

 

Christmas food ordered weeks ahead of Christmas, to stave off that last minute panic of what to have for lunch.  

And an heirloom recipe re-created for new generations.  

Fresh flowers given as a gift and infusing a room with perfume, replacing a cheap, plastic centrepiece.

Gifts hand-crafted with care and who's purchase supports local artisans; unique and individual gifts. 

Christmas cards hand delivered to neighbours seen only in passing throughout the year. 

Gathering foliage and flowers from the garden (or friendly neighbours' gardens) to hand-craft a fresh seasonal display heralding Christmas. 

Inviting grandparents (or videoing) to share in small children's delight at opening presents from Santa! 

Ah, the sweetness of creating little traditions that signify Christmas unique to you and yours each year.  


Traditions of simplicity and delight, of thankfulness  .. and even remembrance of the sadness of Christmases past.  

Because in Australia, we are blessed beyond counting with freedom to enjoy Christmas in many varied ways, with traditions gleaned from other cultures and generations.  


And to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas in a way that has intentional and personal meaning.

May you have a wonder filled and meaningful Christmas.   

A Christmas Wreath .. At My Rose Garden

One of my traditions at Christmas is to gather plant material from the rose gardens and create a rustic wreath to hang on our front gate.   I always start by making the wreath base using pliable green stems and branches.  This year I have used the thornless lanky stems of a multiflora rose that was threatening to take over a large garden bed.

This blog was initially just going to be a 'how to' of basic wreath making for Christmas.  But then I began to ponder on the use of greenery and other plant materials that we traditionally use to decorate our homes at Christmas.  What is it about greenery and bright red flowers that adds to the wonderment of Christmas?

In our hot Australian climate, using fresh greenery to decorate stairs and front doors with is not terribly practical.  Our fresh Christmas trees need to sit in a bucket of moist sand, or just water, depending on how hot Christmas is this year!  The heat of our summer at Christmas will quickly dry out and brown any greenery left without water.  

Yet, who can resist a lush green wreath, or a green fragrant pine tree as the centrepiece of their Christmas display?  

As I began to decorate my woven wreath base with tiny terracotta pots my expectation is always that the wreath will eventually lose it's fresh green colour and begin to dry out revealing the twisted stems. 


So adding bunches of fragrant, dried herbs such as spearmint and lemon thyme adds texture and fragrance. 

Dried red roses and rosehips and salvia add bright touches reminiscent of brightly coloured baubles.  

Adding dried rather than fresh flowers and herbs helps to position them better on the wreath.  And you will know they won't flop and spoil the display.  

A dried posy of the furry, silver leaves of lambs' ears (Stachys byzantina) tied with cotton muslin replaces a traditional bow at the top of the wreath.  

And just in case there aren't enough little touches on the wreath, a tiny green spider displays its abdomen next to a pearl florist pin.  Proof that pesticide free gardening is full of little delights and surprises!!!

The final touches are added, all in keeping with the traditional green, silver and red of Christmas decorations.  Christian traditions refer to the red of Christmas decorations as representing the blood of Jesus, and the green of eternal life.  

Could it also be  that the texture, colour and fragrance of using natural materials to decorate our homes with at Christmas speak to an innate desire to reverence the Creator!  After all that's what the awe and wonder of Christmas is all about!! The birth of Christ, Son of God, Creator!!

  

Oh, I can hear the naysayers being offended and dismissing my preposterous suggestion!  Yet scientific research  also points to the innate sense of peace we feel in a garden, or holding a bunch of flowers, or viewing a tree through a window!  A sense of peace that also speaks of a Creator!

And so, my home-made wreath of raw plant materials will sit and dry out to a rustic hue on my front post   ..   or the front gate (I have yet to decide!) as an ode to the wonderment and joy that is Christmas!  

Merry Christmas!!  

May your Christmas be filled with love, laughter and wonderment!!  

Lemon-scented Roses? .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

Did you know that not all roses smell like roses? We all expect to smell a typical rose-like sweet fragrance when we are given a rose, but would you expect to smell lemons instead?

Some roses have fragrance that has a hint of citroen, or lemon, hidden in its rosey depths.  The Noisette rose, Lamaraque, has a sweet fragrance combined with a definite lemon fragrance.  The Lamarque rose even has a lemon tint to it's white blooms, so the touch of lemon doesn't seem so incongruous.     

So imagine how surprising it is to find a mauve rose with lemon undertones in its fragrance.  Blue Moon, one of many attempts by rose breeders to create a 'blue rose' also has citroen hints in its perfume.  

Of course, there are many variations of fragrance in the rose world.  Tea roses are so named because of their fragrance that resembles dried tea leaves.  And in addition, some tea roses have fruity notes in their perfume.  Mrs B R Cant, a large and very double rose has hints of peach mixed with dry tea leaves in her perfume.  An unusual and surprising perfume to find in her pink blooms.

Another Tea rose with an unusual fragrance is the lovely Lady Hillingdon.  Here, the rich apricot colour of her blooms is matched by a luscious hint of apricot fragrance that is combined with a fragrance dry tea leaves.  A delicious and lovely combination.

And of course, there is a large variety of herbs that have a strong, citrus fragrance.  Many of these also grow well under roses, wafting a wonderful potpourri of perfume across the rose gardens.  Lemon thyme is one example. Crushing the tiny leaves of lemon thyme releases a sweet, strong lemon perfume that is heavenly mixed into a posy.  

While combining similarly fragrant roses and herbs in a posy or bouquet is an obvious choice .. 

  

There is an endless range of fragrances among roses, so that any mixed posy of roses and herbs offers a wonderfully sensory experience.

A veritable feast of fragrances with endless possibilities  ..