I had an email recently from Jonathan Briggs, a mistletoe expert, pointing me in the direction of his mistletoe blog and website. A feature about mistletoe on Friday's Gardener's World Christmas special reminded me to let you know about it. Monty Don was at the Tenbury Mistletoe auction, but because the feature was filmed at last year's auction, didn't mention that the site - and its ancient tradition - was under threat after it was sold to a crisp manufacturer. The good news is that, by the look of this BBC piece, Tenbury residents are going to keep the mistletoe connection going with an annual mistletoe festival.
I have to admit an almost complete ignorance of this strange plant prior to checking out Jonathan's site: I wasn't aware of the significance of mistletoe as a fertility symbol, although it makes sense when you look at the shape of the leaves and the nature of the berries. Jonathan also explains the differences between American and European mistletoe: in fact there are hundreds of different types of mistletoe growing around the world.
I haven't got any mistletoe this year, although I have been tempted to ask my neighbours if I can buy a bunch from them: their apple tree in the front garden is loaded with the stuff. At least that way it will be fresh: in previous years the branches I have brought have fallen apart so quickly that they appeared to have been picked months ago.
When I was growing up I would find mistletoe growing wild, your article has brought back many fond memories. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Bakersfield Lawyer | August 12, 2007 at 01:37 AM