Spider Webs and Cherry Trees…..For Christmas?!?!
Written by Kat Castagnoli AIFD CFD
Ready or not, the holidays are officially here! If you haven’t already, I’m sure you’ve begun thinking about breaking out the holiday décor, ordering poinsettias, designing garlands and festooning that favorite symbol of the season – the Christmas tree. Be it golden gilded, snowy silver or a different theme entirely, holiday trees are a fun way for any floral designer to showcase their creativity.
There are actually some little-known tidbits about our traditional holiday staple that we bet you didn’t know! Read on and see if you knew….
It was Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, who first brought the tradition of decorating a tree to England in the 1840s. After the royal family was photographed with a decorated Christmas tree, the tradition spread among commoners and was later brought over to America.
Ukrainians often decorate their Christmas trees with spider webs. While it sounds ominous, this tradition is actually rooted in a heartwarming folktale about a poor widow who found a Christmas tree for her children. However, she had no money to decorate it, so on Christmas Eve, she went to bed crying. That night, spiders heard her tears and proceeded to cover the tree with delicate, glistening webs.
The Nordmann Fir has been a popular Christmas tree of choice in Europe for a number of years and is gaining momentum in the United States. It’s preferred among other evergreens for its excellent needle retention, the softness of its needles and how perfect it is for people with allergies since it has no aroma.
Decorating Christmas trees with lights was actually started by 16th century Protestant reformer, Martin Luther. While walking home one winter night, he was intrigued by the brilliance of stars twinkling between the evergreen trees, according to History.com. He recaptured the sight at home for his family by erecting a tree in the main room and wiring the branches with lit candles
Cherry trees were once used as Christmas trees, in the early days before everyone settled on firs and pines. The appeal of these trees was in their flowers. If you cut off a branch, brought it inside, and set it in a pot of water, it would flower just in time for Christmas.
The largest artificial Christmas tree cost $80,000 to construct. In Colombo, Sri Lanka, a 236-foot tall tree made of scrap metal and wood broke the Guinness World Record in 2016 for the world's tallest artificial Christmas tree
The first artificial Christmas trees were made of dyed goose feathers and wire. Artificial trees date back to the 1880s, when Germans looking to offset deforestation made the first ones from dyed goose feathers held together with wire. Since then, people around the world have made fake trees out of aluminum, cardboard, and glass, although most artificial Christmas trees sold today are made out of PVC plastic.
Americans buy upwards of 30 million Christmas trees a year. The U.S. is home to nearly 15,000 Christmas tree farms, with 98 percent of all Christmas trees grown on farms. Only 2 percent of Christmas trees are cut from the wild.
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One Florida city makes an annual Christmas tree out of 700 tons of sand. Every year West Palm Beach, Florida, boasts that it has the world's largest Christmas tree made entirely of sand: 700 tons go into making "Sandi," a 35-foot peak strung with lights and topped with a star.
Enter the Design Contest presented by the AIFD Foundation. If all this talk about Christmas trees is getting you in the spirit, we have just the thing for you! Bedazzle your tree in any way you choose, snap a picture and send it in—along with a $25 minimum donation—to enter our ‘Rock That Tree!’ contest!! You could win some extra holiday cash, along with knowing that you’ve helped future floral designers in our Region by helping endow the Southwest Chapter Fund.
You don’t need to be a floral designer to enter – the contest is open to everyone! And your tree can be from this year, or a favorite from holiday’s past. But don’t delay in decking out your tree – the deadline is December 8th!
Visit aifdfoundation.org to enter today!!!!
Intrigued by the above facts? Learn more from these websites:
