Fresh greenery always makes me think of Christmas, and nothing smells more like Christmas than a live rosemary tree. Three of them on the kitchen island triples the fragrance of Christmas, the feeling of Christmas, and the look of French Country noël.
Simple, easy to find, but sometimes a challenge to keep fresh inside a heated house during the Christmas season.
Rosemary Trees Say French Country Christmas
but take a little extra care
Buy them as soon as they appear at the garden center. Buying early means getting to choose the best shaped trees and getting the trees home before they have a chance to dry out. Chances are you will give them better care than the hired employees.
The longer the little trees stay at the garden center, the more likely a cold snap or lack of water will damage them.
Once home with you, keep them outside as much as possible. Outdoor temperatures are cooler and outside humidity is higher than inside your house. Both cool temperatures, but not freezing temperatures, and high humidity are favorable growing conditions for the rosemary trees.
Bring the trees inside when you are ready to display them, say during a Christmas party, and put them back outside periodically after the party to refresh them. If possible, display the trees away from direct sunlight.
While outside protect them from heavy winds and place them so they get natural rain water. Take care they do not sit in water. Both too much and too little water stress plants.
When inside, water the trees by placing the trees in a sink and adding water until the water flows through the bottom of the container. Use a sprayer attachment to gently spray the entire plant with water. Allow the plant to sit in the sink to drain excess water before returning the plant to a display container like the galvanized buckets.
Keep the plants in the plastic pots they were grown in. Display the plants in a container big enough to cover the original plastic pot. A galvanized container adds a French Country Christmas look similar to vintage French zinc flower pots.
A single glittery snowflake ornament as a tree topper adds a Christmas touch to the little tree, but allows the tree itself to be the star.
Adding a small ornament tree topper elevates the tree to "gift" status. Perfect for a hostess gift, for a next door neighbor, or for a teacher. Gifted two or three weeks before Christmas allows the recipient to display the tree as part of her Christmas decor... and to fill her house with the fragrance of Christmas.
Who wouldn't want to receive one as a Christmas gift?
a little bit of French Country Christmas on the kitchen island
j o y e u x n o ë l
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