| Show KB K B i christmas Ghrist bab ni mas F hower I 1 OW arta and fly P by ida MONG the christ mas flowers none A has a more popular place than the poinsettia poinsett la its great bracts braats ot of glowing red fitting into any setting from that of the stately church ili li its gorgeous holiday decoration to that of tile the most unpretentious home with the green of the palm fern holly pine laurel and other plants it Is at its very best and all admire it with tills this as with most of the christmas flowers cany legends find and stories 1 ar afe associated the comes fresn mexico aal one legend relates how a peasant girl on her way to church on christmas christinas morning grieved because she IV A aall 11 1 jill I 1 4 ga kv I 1 ak 0 wo f 1 ai J C Y 4 common Corn nion weed by wayside converted into gorgeous flower had no gift to place at the feet of the image of the chhist child aitay itay ing to the virgin irgin she explained that she had no gift because blie as too poor to buy one and as slie she turned she found a cu common ninion weed by the wayside had been converted into gorgeous flower and these blois blog she picked an am carried buck back to tile the el church lurch ever afterward the legend says at christmas christinas time the hills and mountain sides of mexico have been covered with these flowers kut but tile the plant was not known as the poinsettia a jo in the early days nor for many years after it became fa willar to travelers who marveled at its great beauty it was not until a hundred years figo ago that dr joel roberts poinsett Po inett american minister to mexico with the rare quality of tile loner llover er sent bent specimens to a florist in philadelphia with the request to see if it could be tamed and would grow successfully cess fully if brought into the united unite d states after many years year i this result was accomplished and it was V I 1 I 1 named in honor of doctor Poin poinsett lett tho ine poinsettia while popular a as a aChris tums is pl int Is difficult dini cult to cultivate as it feels keenly the change from tile the cool moist atmosphere of the greenhouse to the hot dry air of most mn t horne homes it Is very sensitive to sudden changes change and all chilling will cause it to shed its leaves it wants plenty of light and con considerable sll water while it la Is in bloom the holly and the mistletoe go far back in Ill history back to the days aben the drulis druids used use them for their worship at the inter festival in their forest temples the mistletoe was so frequently used in the ceremonies of the heathen th that it the fathers of the he early christinn christian church forbade its use and this dainty appropriate flower was R an outcast for centuries the holly has always been held in high esteem in christmas festivities also the pine and the th laurel the ruthless cutting of the holly pine and laurel lias has brought about a great scarcity of the plants and conserva in all parts of the country have appealed for the use of substitutes utes until ill the plants 1111 can be r restored |
