News
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — You probably won't find any mistletoe at the craft fair and bake sale being held at C Building at the Mesa County Fairgrounds tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 3, but you will certainly find a lot of lavender. Lavender wreaths, lavender pillows, lavender coffee cozies, lavender eye pillows, lavender bookmarks, lavender lotions, creams, and oils. Everything lavender. These items are locally produced from locally grown lavender.
This Christmas Craft Fair and Bake Sale is the third the Lavender Association of Western Colorado has hosted. This year, there are 26 vendors providing you a tremendous selection of locally produced, hand-crafted gifts. A wide variety of items for a silent auction has been provided by association members and participating vendors.
There will be demonstrations on using lavender in ways you may never have thought possible. The ever-popular Intellitec College massage therapy students will again be there with their massage chairs. And there will be a bake sale featuring delicious sweet treats, hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cider. All proceeds from the silent auction and bake sale will go to the association to further their goals of promoting the local lavender industry through research, education, marketing and networking.
Admission to the Lavender Association Christmas Craft Fair and Bake Sale is free with the doors open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Mesa County Fairgrounds Community Building is easy to find. Enter the fairgrounds off Hwy. 50, take an immediate left past the marquee, and follow the signs on the sandwich boards.
A lavender wreath would look and smell great hanging on your door inviting guests inside but if you buy two you also would be able to hang one inside to enjoy the delightful scent of lavender all through the holiday season. Buy three and send one to a friend. Or maybe your friend would enjoy lavender-infused honey or lotion.
MISTLETOE, A PARASITE?
Mistletoe is another plant you might consider hanging in your home during this holiday season. Many people enjoy standing under the mistletoe just to see what will happen. While you could pick mistletoe out of some of our local trees, the type you really want during this season is from the hardwood trees growing in warmer climates. The most common mistletoe we have in this area infects our pine trees, not hardwoods. Called dwarf mistletoe (genus Arceuthobium) these don't produce leaves or red berry-like fruits.
While we do have one of the true leafy mistletoes in our junipers (Phoradendron juniperinum) that is not one you want either. As you can see in the photo accompanying this article it doesn't have the large green leaves and red or white berries you look for in the holiday mistletoe.
I took this photo on the Colorado National Monument where this parasite is taking up residence in Utah and Rocky Mountain junipers (J. osteosperma and J. scopulorum respectively). The Phoradendrons are obligate hemi-parasitic semi-shrubs. While they require roots in the vascular system of their host trees to survive they also produce some of their own nourishment through photosynthesis. The Arceuthobiums are also obligate parasites but differ from the Phoradendrons in they do not photosynthesize, i.e. are not hemi-parasites.
Mistletoe has been a symbol of love and prosperity since the days of the pagan gods. In Celtic lore the Druid Priests cut mistletoe from oak trees five days after the first new moon following the winter solstice. They gave the mistletoe to the people to hang over their doors for protection against evil in the coming year.
In Norse mythology Balder, son of Odin and the goddess Frigg, was killed by a spear made of mistletoe. Tears shed by Frigg turned into the berries of the mistletoe thereby restoring Balder back to life and mistletoe was declared a symbol of love. We owe the pagan gods thanks for this holiday tradition otherwise we would not be able to stand under the mistletoe waiting in anticipation for a hug and a kiss.
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Dr. Curtis E. Swift is the area horticulture agent with the CSU Extension. Reach him at Curt.Swift@mesacounty.us, visit WesternSlopeGardening.org, or check out his blog at http://SwiftsGardeningBlog.blogspot.com.
This Christmas Craft Fair and Bake Sale is the third the Lavender Association of Western Colorado has hosted. This year, there are 26 vendors providing you a tremendous selection of locally produced, hand-crafted gifts. A wide variety of items for a silent auction has been provided by association members and participating vendors.
There will be demonstrations on using lavender in ways you may never have thought possible. The ever-popular Intellitec College massage therapy students will again be there with their massage chairs. And there will be a bake sale featuring delicious sweet treats, hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cider. All proceeds from the silent auction and bake sale will go to the association to further their goals of promoting the local lavender industry through research, education, marketing and networking.
Admission to the Lavender Association Christmas Craft Fair and Bake Sale is free with the doors open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Mesa County Fairgrounds Community Building is easy to find. Enter the fairgrounds off Hwy. 50, take an immediate left past the marquee, and follow the signs on the sandwich boards.
A lavender wreath would look and smell great hanging on your door inviting guests inside but if you buy two you also would be able to hang one inside to enjoy the delightful scent of lavender all through the holiday season. Buy three and send one to a friend. Or maybe your friend would enjoy lavender-infused honey or lotion.
MISTLETOE, A PARASITE?
Mistletoe is another plant you might consider hanging in your home during this holiday season. Many people enjoy standing under the mistletoe just to see what will happen. While you could pick mistletoe out of some of our local trees, the type you really want during this season is from the hardwood trees growing in warmer climates. The most common mistletoe we have in this area infects our pine trees, not hardwoods. Called dwarf mistletoe (genus Arceuthobium) these don't produce leaves or red berry-like fruits.
While we do have one of the true leafy mistletoes in our junipers (Phoradendron juniperinum) that is not one you want either. As you can see in the photo accompanying this article it doesn't have the large green leaves and red or white berries you look for in the holiday mistletoe.
I took this photo on the Colorado National Monument where this parasite is taking up residence in Utah and Rocky Mountain junipers (J. osteosperma and J. scopulorum respectively). The Phoradendrons are obligate hemi-parasitic semi-shrubs. While they require roots in the vascular system of their host trees to survive they also produce some of their own nourishment through photosynthesis. The Arceuthobiums are also obligate parasites but differ from the Phoradendrons in they do not photosynthesize, i.e. are not hemi-parasites.
Mistletoe has been a symbol of love and prosperity since the days of the pagan gods. In Celtic lore the Druid Priests cut mistletoe from oak trees five days after the first new moon following the winter solstice. They gave the mistletoe to the people to hang over their doors for protection against evil in the coming year.
In Norse mythology Balder, son of Odin and the goddess Frigg, was killed by a spear made of mistletoe. Tears shed by Frigg turned into the berries of the mistletoe thereby restoring Balder back to life and mistletoe was declared a symbol of love. We owe the pagan gods thanks for this holiday tradition otherwise we would not be able to stand under the mistletoe waiting in anticipation for a hug and a kiss.
----------------------
Dr. Curtis E. Swift is the area horticulture agent with the CSU Extension. Reach him at Curt.Swift@mesacounty.us, visit WesternSlopeGardening.org, or check out his blog at http://SwiftsGardeningBlog.blogspot.com.
