berries , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , Mistletoe , Other parasites , Science

Missouri Mistletoe looks European

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Here’s a puzzler. Some background first – in the USA the native mistletoes are very different to our European Viscum album and, in multiple ways, inferior in appearance (branching, leaf shape, berry size etc) to ours. The species used at Christmas over there are mostly from the mistletoe genus Phoradendron, which do at least have evergreen leaves and white berries, they’re just not as good-looking!  (not to mention not being, actually, the genuine mistletoe of […]

berries , birds , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , germination , Mistletoe , social history

Growing Your Own – advice and caveats

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

The English Mistletoe Shop, the retail website which I’ve jointly run for many years now, is not supplying mistletoe grow-kits this year. For me this will be the first winter in 20 years that I’ve not supplied these kits, originally developed for the (now defunct) Tenbury English Mistletoe Enterprise website, so it is a significant change of tack for me. I am missing the build up to it already, but other projects are looming and […]

berries , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , germination , Mistletoe , Other parasites , Science

Parasitic plants in spring, Part 2

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Picking up from my recent post about spring parasites that aren’t mistletoe, here are some pictures of what mistletoe seeds do in spring. And that is, mostly, germinating. On any old surface.  As the seeds won’t know, until the seedling tries to attach itself to a host, whether it is sitting on a host or not.  Interestingly, for these few weeks of germination, the mistletoe plant is independent, not parasitic, and relies on the resources […]

auctions , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Food and Drink , Gardening , Mistletoe , Mistletoe Day , Orchard , Religion , social history , Tenbury Wells

Mistletoe in Parliament

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

A recent query (in connection with this) about how we got Parliament’s approval for National Mistletoe Day in 2005, and a subsequent search for the relevant references, got me looking at mistletoe in parliament in general.  Does it get mentioned often?  And in what sort of context? The answer to ‘how often’ is ‘not very’.  But the answer to type of context is ‘very variable’ as a search through Hansard, Parliament’s formal record (and allied […]

auctions , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Gardening , Media , Science , social history

Mistletoe Season 2024/25

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

A belated start to the diary this year!  A few snippets of info and dates for now, more soon: Dates This year’s Tenbury Mistletoe Festival (and National Mistletoe Day) will be on Saturday 7th December. Details still to be confirmed, for updates see https://www.tenburymistletoe.org/  One definite fixture is the druid mistletoe ceremony at 3.00pm on the Burgage.  This year’s Tenbury Mistletoe Auctions will be on Tuesday 26th November and Tuesday 3rd December at Burford House Garden Centre, Burford, Tenbury […]

berries , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , Mistletoe , social history , stupidity , toxicity

Mistletoe nonsense 2023 #1: Ideal Home far from ideal

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Quite a lot of nonsense written about mistletoe again this season, I never cease to be amazed by how much mis-information there is out there. Though as Roy Vickery, a  plant-lore expert at the Natural History Museum once said in one of his books some years ago; ‘more nonsense has been written about mistletoe than any other plant’ so perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised. Much of it relates to toxicity, confused understanding of differing […]

Blogroll , Current Affairs , Doctor Who , Food and Drink , Gardening , Mistletoe , Other parasites , social history , toxicity

Mistletoe Meows

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

It’s Mistletoe Kitten Time! Mistletoe Diary has been a little inactive this season, largely due to colds, coughs and similar delights, but I’m easing back into it now starting with the easy-win of cats and kittens – as they’re always popular online (as I understand it).  There is no immediately obvious mistletoe link, so I could just fill the page with some pictures of cute kitties with mistletoe, like these (left).  But I can’t leave […]

Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Food and Drink , Gardening , Mistletoe , Religion , Science , social history , toxicity

Locating Lindow Man

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Whilst in Cheshire last weekend, on non-mistletoe business in Wilmslow, we took the opportunity to visit Lindow Moss, the peatbog where the bog body known as Lindow Man (and also, sometimes, as plain Pete Marsh) was discovered in 1984. The discovery of some mistletoe material in his gut, and some of the over-fanciful interpretations of that, has been discussed by me in the diary before – see 2009 and 2011 – and I thought it […]

auctions , berries , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , Media , Mistletoe , Mistletoe Day , Science , social history , Tenbury Wells

Mistletoe time, again – news and updates for 2023/24

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

A slightly late start to the blog this year – but announcing all the usual stuff; the berries are looking good, whitening up already, mistletoe events are being organised, mistletoe studies are being planned and mistletoe commerce is underway. In events news there are the usual mistletoe auctions at Tenbury Wells – this year on Tuesday 21st and Tuesday  28th November. Details for buyers and sellers are at https://nickchampion.co.uk/auctions/holly-and-mistletoe/ or, if you just want to watch, […]

berries , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Gardening , Media , Mistletoe , Science

Mistletoe germination

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

End of March – the end of the mistletoe season for us, but the middle of the germination season for mistletoe seeds. Why the end for us? Well we spend much of February and March each year working with mistletoe, especially in neglected sites, and supplying mistletoe seeds and advice to those who want them.  The arrival of April is often a welcome break as mistletoe has dominated our lives since October! But for mistletoe […]