The Significance Of Our Favourite​ Festive Plants

Holly, ivy and mistletoe are all Christmas classics, but how did they become so central to the holiday season – and which are the best types to grow? Graham Rice has the answers.

- Graham Rice

WHAT are the first plants we tend to think of at Christmas? OK, the Christmas tree – which these days can be one of a dozen species. Obviously there’s the poinsettia, in all its glorious redness (pink is very fashionable this year, but have you noticed how the white and the dyed-blue ones are always 50 per cent off on Christmas Eve?). 

And then, of course, there is the holy trinity of classic British festive plants, commemorated in carols, folk songs and Christmas customs: the holly, the ivy and mistletoe. But how did they all become so inextricably linked with ‘the most wonderful time of year’?