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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-12-24, Page 11ea0ort's' reeting5 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 While Santa Makes His Rounds. ...We want to wish a wonderful Christmas to everyone who visited us this year! Thanks for your business and support! BRUSSELS TURNBERRY ST. N. 887-61732 Before the Holiday Dash... We want to wish everyone all good things in this festive season. Thank you so very much for your support and loyalty. All the best to you and yours! From: Max, Jim, Darlene, Kathy, Brenda, Don, Phil & Tom at OLDFILED PRO HARDWARE & RADIOSHACK DQ: We value the friendships we've built with customers like you. Hope you all have a happy holiday! B & H Mechanical Brussels 887-9922 'Your Family .9-fair Care Centre" Brussels 887-6751 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2001. PAGE 11. Telling the story behind the poinsettia You know the doors to the other- world are closed for another year, when poinsettias replace pumpkins as the floral choice of the season. This ornamental, native to Mexico, is more common than the Christmas tree as a festive decoration. Strangely enough, an ancient Greek mythological creature has a rather odd connection with the most revered Christmas plant, the poinset- tia. The Greek creature, called .a chimera, was a fire-breathing crea- ture with the head of a lion, body of a goat and tail of a serpent, Many of the new and unusually coloured poinsettias that we see today are the result of naturally occurring muta- tions that are often referred to as chimeras. The poinsettia (botanical name: Euphoria pulcherrima) is the quin- tessential Christmas flower, whose legend of purity dates back to Mexican Aztecs. One native story traces its origin to a little Mexican girl who wanted more than anything to give a fine present to the Christ child at the church service one Christmas Eve long ago. But her family was very poor and couldn't afford a gift. So Pepita gath- ered a bouquet of common wildflow- ers from the roadside and entered the church. When she placed them at the feet of the Christ Child they burst into brilliant scarlet, star-shaped blooms. The flower was called Flor de la Noche Buena (flower of the holy night) and soon became known as Mexico's Christmas gift to the world. In 1825, Dr. Joel Robert Poinsett, the first American ambassador to Mexico, sent cuttings home to his greenhouse in South Carolina, set- ting the stage for commercial pro- duction and his name being immor- talized in a swirl of coloured modi- fied leaves called bracts. The modern poinsettia has changed greatly since the early 1900s, when it was grown in the Hollywood Hills as a cut flower for local markets. Today, poinsettias are sold almost exclusively as potted plants, although some florists still cut them for Christmas arrange- ments. Poinsettias account for 10 per cent of Ontario greenhouse potted plant production, Almost half of that is exported to the U.S. market annually. "As cut flowers, poinsettias are challenging, considering that most of our arrangements must last several days," says Janet McLeod, Peterborough florist. "The white stickly liquid that flows the minute you cut a stem can clog water uptake, causing the flower to wilt. We soak poinsettia cuts in warm water for days before using them in a bouquet." But the professional touch is obvi- ous in the ways that florists package potted poinsettias according to Ann Musselman, a Port Dover florist. "I buy quality plants in different sizes and group a number of varieties in beautiful baskets or ceramic contain- ers. I often add fresh evergreens and dried materials like ting ting or curly willow to my poinsettia planter gar- dens." Flower of purity still coloured by urban myth Ironically, in the early 1900s, the flower of purity became the centre of an urban myth about a two-year-old child of an army officer stationed in Hawaii who died after eating a poin- settia leaf. This unfounded story helped scare people into thinking that the poinsettia was poisonous and if ingested by humans or pets, could be lethal. The rumour persisted despite efforts by noted horticulturists to demonstrate the plant's harmlessness by actually eating the leaves on TV. Finally, clinical research published published by Ohio State University in 1971 determined that poinsettias were not toxic to humans or animals. According to Garry Watson, exec- utive director of Flowers Canada, the controversy is theoretical. "The greenhouse industry in Canada rec- ommends that poinsettias as well as other ornamental plants be kept out of reach of small children, not because of measurable toxicity but because ornamentals of any sort are not food products." Poinsettias are very sensitive to cold When transporting the plants home, protect them from tempera- tures below 10°C (50°F) because chilling encourages leaf shedding. Place the plants in a room where there is sufficient natural light to read fine print. Potted poinsettias must have at least six hours of bright indirect light to thrive. With warm wishes and heartfelt thanks from all of us. at George of Brussels Water plants thoroughly when the soil feels dry but never allow the plants to sit in water. Fertilizer within several days of purchase, especially if you intend to keep the plant longer than the Christmas season. Tip from the professionals If a potted poinsettia stem breaks during transport, apply a little of the soil to the cut to stop the flow of sap. You can revitalize a wilted poinsettia cutting first in warm water followed by an hour or two of refrigeration to hasten the firming process. DID YOU KNOW * Kissing under the mistletoe may be romantic, but caution should be used. Mistletoe, used as decorations at Christmas, should be kept out of the reach of children and family pets. 7iteiney ekteatotal Hoping for you and yours a holiday that sings with Joy. Thanks, Friends. HOLIDAY HOURS - Closed Dec. 24 at 2:00 p.m. to Jan. 2 Regular hours Jan. 2 at 7:00 a.m. MON. - SAT. 7 AM to 2 PM 887-9517 AT THE MAIN CORNER, WALTON Ouellette, who divides his time between Brussels, Toronto and Paris, comes from the small New Brunswick town of Drummond and his background is Acadian. On Christmas Eve people would come from the countryside to attend midnight mass. Prior to mass they would move from house to house visiting friends and relatives. Afterwards they would have house parties with music from fiddles, recorders and the washtub bass. Everyone danced and sang, fueled according to Ouellette, by home- made spirits. He tells a story of the time his father decided the dancers had insuf- ficient room. Over the protests of his mother, his father picked up their tree and carried it outside to be set up in a snow-bank by their front door. Christmas day was for the family, with gifts and then a family dinner with wild rabbit or chicken seasoned with cranberries. There were deco- rated breads and cakes made to look like logs with jam or cream fillings rolled between the layers of cake. He said that considerable care was taken with.these log cakes. Icing was used to represent bark and even stumps made of cake would be fash- ioned to represent the tree from which your log cake had come. No article about Christmas tradi- tions would be complete without the story of the most famous of carols. It is said that on Christmas Eve of 1818, in the Austrian village of Oberndorf, the priest discovered that the leather bellows of the organ had Canadian traditions differ too Continued from pge 10 been chewed full of holes by mice. midnight service. To prevent a Christmas without Canada too has different music, organist Franz Bauer quickly Christmas traditions. Antoine composed a tune that could be played on a guitar for a new Christmas hymn that had been writ- ten by the village priest. Thus came into being the carol that actually stopped the First World War for 24 hours on the western front - Silent Night.