Within a few days time it will be Christmas.
I have taken the mistletoe - which has been hanging for some weeks outside on
the rose arch already - inside. I have something special with mistletoe. I do
not know whether it is the colour of the berries or the kissing aspect, but for
me mistletoe is the ultimate Christmas plant.
The other day I found on the Internet
that it is possible to 'sow' mistletoe to apple trees. To investigate this I
squeezed out a mistletoe berry. From the berry comes a white sticky ball.
Inside this sticky ball you will find a miniature mistletoe plant. You might
say it looks like a small embryo.
The 'seeding', or should I say
'planting' of the mistletoe works as follows:
Pick a sturdy branch of an apple tree that
gets lots of sunshine.
Squeeze the seed out of the berry and smear
the sticky seedling against the bark of the apple tree. The best time to do
this is late February until March. Please be aware that the berries are
poisonous!
Because of the small chance of success, smear
at least 10 seedlings at the same branch. Then you will have to wait patiently
for at least a year.
If you are lucky you will have your own
mistletoe in the tree.
This web wisdom instantly raised me a
dilemma. Once placed inside the house for decoration the berries will dry out
quickly and are useless for sowing. So I will have to decide. Lovely mistletoe
inside during this Christmas or the chance of having my own mistletoe in the apple
tree for all years to come….. I have no made up my mind yet.
I will have to think it over it little
bit more.
For now, I wish all you blog readers a
Merry Christmas!
romantic rose garden
Mistletoe outside hanging on the rose arch.
Mistletoe berries are beautiful
Mistletoe berries close up
Inside the house for decoration.
Together with some candle light.
It looks fantastic I think.
Mistletoe, like a small tree.
Seeding Mistletoe. Squeeze out the berry.
Inside the berrie is a little sticky ball.
Smear it at the branch and wait patiently for a year to see it grow!
That is simply astounding! I have never seen real mistletoe before, and I love the white berries - so much more elegant than red ones. The who berry-squeezing technique is so curious!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Hetty!
Karen
Good luck with the little "piggybacking"!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas :-)
Good to see this plant up close.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for the Festive Season and thank you for participating in the Floral Friday Fotos meme!
To think that a parasitic plant could be so beautiful. The stems look lovely in the vase. Tom The Backroads Traveller
ReplyDeleteThat's fascinating.
ReplyDelete