Garden Club: December 2021

December has finally arrived: a time of celebration, colorful lights, vibrant wreaths, and family gatherings. Garden Club will celebrate this joyful season at our Holiday Party on December 13 at 11:00 a.m. in the Clubhouse. If members wish to participate in the fun gift exchange, please bring a wrapped garden-related gift, valued at $15. Lunch promises to be a delicious affair, with a return to our members ‘bring and share’ appetizers, salads, and deserts.
In the spirit of the holidays, members were encouraged to visit Weidners Gardens in Encinitas for their Poinsettia Greenhouse Tours offering a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the many beautiful varieties of poinsettias.
Thanks to the local Ecke family, poinsettias started their journey to become the traditional Christmas flower in Encinitas. Poinsettias didn’t arrive in the United States until the nineteenth century.
The plant is named for the first US Ambassador to Mexico—Doctor Joel Robert Poinsett — who discovered it in the wilderness of southern Mexico. He introduced the poinsettia to America in 1828.
What does a poinsettia have to do with Christmas? It is said to be a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem that led the three Wise Men to the stable in Bethlehem. In Mexico, the beautiful red poinsettias are known as ‘Flores de Noche Buena’—flowers of the holy night.
As we all reflect on this past year, we are grateful beyond measure that the COVID-19 vaccines became available, and that our lives began to change for the better as some normality has returned. Beyond gratitude, Alexander Pope’s dictum that “hope springs eternal” is a reminder to us that hope is a powerful life force that enables us to face and overcome challenges.
We have faced extraordinary challenges during the pandemic. To quote Christopher Reeve: “Once you choose hope anything is possible.” We encourage our member gardeners to embrace and nurture their plants and flowers—indoors and outdoors—and to stay hopeful.
—Elspeth Ann Strauss