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Live Christmas Wreaths to Decorate Your Home for the Holiday Season
Live wreaths have been around since ancient Roman and Greek civilizations, so they obviously precede the use of plastic and other artificial wreaths.
The ancient wreath was always hand made from real natural plant material: twigs, leaves and berries. Laurel was commonly used in ancient Greece, while laurel or olive usually featured in ancient Roman wreaths.
Wreaths were adopted by Christians too, and became a common Christmas decoration much later. The Christmas wreath has traditionally been made from evergreen twigs and leaves, woven into a circle to hang on a door, although there is no reason why they should not be hung elsewhere around or inside the home too. Wreaths are very decorative, and over more recent times have often been adorned by pine cones, or even holly or rowan berries.
During the 20th century, artificial Christmas wreaths became widespread, and over time have become much more realistic and attractive than when they first appeared.
While holly leaves and berries can be used when available, most modern real Christmas are made from types of fir. Balsam fir (top left) is popular for real wreaths, not just because of its appearance but also for its pleasing scent. You will see in the example another popular addition, a red bow, which are now often used both on live and artificial Christmas wreaths. The example shown also has pine cone accents to add to the realism.
The same types of fir that are popular for live Christmas trees are also the ones most used for live wreaths too. Apart from Balsam fir, the Fraser fir is also very popular in the US. The middle picture shows a Fraser fir, with its soft pine needles adorned with beautiful pine cones and a bright red bow. the final picture shows a live Holly wreath, a popular tradition in the UK as well as the US, in areas where holly is available.
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