Out Dowdall: Life Branch And Peter Christmas This Celebrate

Sun, 22 Dec, 2024 - 02:00

Peter Dowdall

Christmas is a season of warmth, reflection, and connection — a time when families and friends come together to celebrate love and traditions. It’s a bittersweet time too, as we all remember those that have gone before us.

Though we surround ourselves with plastic and artificial lights during the celebration, I need some time outdoors in the natural world during this time. I need it for several reasons — obviously for the feeling of fresh air and perhaps to walk off some of the extra load on the off-chance that I may overindulge, but also, for that connection. I don’t feel the connection under the baubles and decorations. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fuss of the season and all the trimmings but outside, that’s where I can recharge.

Christmas is a time to remember those who have left the table and rejoice with the new dinner guests. The garden is there primarily as a place to relax and unwind and don’t forget to do just that this Christmas. It’s not all about the glitz and packaging.

Plants carry profound emotional resonance. In their quiet resilience, plants have long been a powerful medium for preserving and honouring connections with those who have passed. Whether it’s a beloved tree planted by someone now passed or in someone’s memory, a flowering plant inherited from a relative, or simply a species that reminds us of someone, they can’t but, bring that person to mind.

How quickly something can become important at this time of year. If we do something, for more than two years in a row, it seems to immediately become a tradition. There are some traditions, such as using Christmas houseplants, which have been with us for generations.

Poinsettias, Christmas cactus and orchids along with amaryllis, are some plants which we use to brighten up the indoors at this time of year. Perhaps you remember your, mother, father or grandparent, heading out to the garden centre to get theirs in years gone by or maybe it was simply one that had been going for years which took centre stage during the festivities.

Now, as we get our own houseplants to decorate the home for Christmas, it brings to mind the past with all its memories, but very much in the present tense and in a living way.

Plants are dripping in symbolism and meaning and have always played a symbolic role in human culture.

They’re used to commemorate milestones, celebrate life, and honour loss. At Christmas, their significance deepens as evergreens, houseplants and seasonal cut flowers and foliage become a central part of the season’s decor and rituals.

Evergreens like pine, fir, and spruce, are deeply associated with Christmas and carry an enduring symbolism of eternal life. Their ability to remain lush and green during the harshest winters has long been seen as a metaphor for the enduring presence of love and memory.

For all of us who’ve lost loved ones, decorating a Christmas tree or creating wreaths can become a meaningful ritual, a way of ensuring the memory of those absent is still present in the season’s celebrations.

Holly and ivy have been used for centuries in holiday decorations. Holly’s red berries and sharp leaves are symbols of protection and remembrance, while ivy represents fidelity and connection, all of which resonate deeply when we remember loved ones at this time of year.

I need that time outdoors, in truth, I think we all need it, though many of us may not take that time out. As we think of those gone, more recently it may be a nice time to remember them by planting a tree in their favourite spot or in a communal space where it can be enjoyed by others. Maybe, there is space to plant more than just a tree and an area can become known as Granny’s garden or similar, bringing them to mind in a joyful way for you and for those younger.

Spending time with plants, whether indoors or in a garden, allows all of us to connect with nature. The run-up to Christmas time is busy and fast-paced, spending time with plants provides us with an opportunity for stillness and reflection, making room to bring to mind those gone whilst at the same time being grateful for what and who we have. And the greatest thing about this service that the natural world offers us, it’s totally free and all around us.

Wherever you are this Christmas, whoever you spend it with, however, you use the garden, take time out in your special place be it under a tree or on your favourite garden bench. There is a stillness about the day every December 25 so enjoy Christmas this year, enjoy the garden, take that time to reflect on times gone and look forward with a gardener's hope to four new seasons.