THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412230230
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Every year for as long as I can remember, even when I was young, a partridge berry wreath has been a part of my holiday.
My family first began receiving them as gifts from an aunt who lived in New Hampshire. When she passed away, I took up the tradition and now send a dozen or so wreaths out as early Christmas gifts to relatives and close friends.
Made of the tiny green partridge berry vine with its bright red berries, the wreath is about 10 inches across. It sits on the coffee table in shallow water on a shiny red plate with a fat red candle in the center. As long as I mist it often and rinse it off every three days or so, the wreath livens up the house until mid-February. As it gets used to its setting, it begins to grow slightly, its leaves curling outward and its berries popping up a little.
These partridge berry wreaths from Wayside Gift Shop in North Conway, N.H., are the only ones I've ever seen or heard of. And am not even sure that Wayside Gift Shop exists for any other reason than to make and ship partridge berry wreaths over the holidays.
Once I tried to reach the shop to change my mail order. I could find no phone number listed with New Hampshire information and no address other than the P.O. box number that comes on the gift shop's yearly postcard.
The card is mailed in late September, reminding me to order the wreaths. It always has a handwritten note on it, signed by Corinne Merrill. ``Hope you had a nice year,'' she writes.
I have never seen nor spoken to Corinne Merrill yet every year for more years than I care to remember, I hear from her at Christmas and every year she hears back from me. I would love to know who she is and how the partridge berry wreath first came to be. Was it created by Merrill herself or is it a tradition in that part of New Hampshire?
Partridge berry has always been a favorite of mine. It can be seen growing in profusion in Seashore State Park. It seems to thrive along the trail edges, where it gets a little more light from the sun than back under the trees. It's also found in rich woods up and down the East Coast and as far west as Minnesota, Arkansas and Texas.
Partridge berry is prettiest this time of year when its tiny dark green leaves provide a perfect foil for its bright red berries. The round evergreen leaves grow in pairs and late every spring, the plant blooms with tiny fragrant white flowers also growing in pairs.
The four-petaled flowers with their hairy surfaces are no bigger than 2/3 of an inch across. The berries, less than 1/2 inch in diameter, are formed when the two flowers fuse together. The berries, have ``two eyes that indicate they are a ``twin berry.''
Partridge berry leaves are reminiscent of boxwood leaves and the plant is often called running box. It runs along the ground on stems up to a foot long, but it rarely raises its head more than an inch above ground.
Native Americans made partridge berry leaf tea and used it for medicinal purposes and probably ate its berries. Today, it can be used as ground cover by homeowners in a sun-dappled part of their yard.
In late winter, I put my wreath, New Hampshire born and bred, out in the garden. After a long winter in a heated house, it doesn't always take to Virginia soil, but sometimes it does, and over the years, I have several reminders of Christmases past in my yard.
P.S. A KISSING BALL WORKSHOP for kids 9 to 12 will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Adam Thoroughgood House. Children, who will make their own kissing balls to take home, also will be given a tour of the historic house. The fee is $5. Call 664-6283 for reservations.
LIFE IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA also can be experienced by children from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at Francis Land House. Colonial games, dances and crafts are all part of the special programming which is included in admission to the historic house. Admission is $2.50 for adults and $1 for children, 6 to 18 and children must be accompanied by an adult. Call 340-1732 for information. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Partridge berry wreaths are made of the tiny green partridge berry
vine with its bright red berries. The wreath is about 10 inches
across, sits on the coffee table in shallow water on a shiny red
plate with a fat red candle in the center.
by CNB