Our first Christmas back after the fire was chaotic. We moved back into our house just a few weeks before Christmas and couldn't find anything we wanted. After the rebuilding of the house, most of my bushes were gone. What I wanted most was a holly, and so that year our 'tree' was a small holly bush from the nursery.
The kids (you know how kids are) were a bit disappointed at the puny bush with its red berries. It wasn't a good choice for Texas (not this particular variety), but it felt better somehow to have the presents under a bit of living green. I considered doing Bonsai, but I'm notoriously bad with bonsai.
So, after several years of this (with moderate success), I fell in love with a rosemary plant, all potted and trimmed up like a minature pine tree. The smell and the lingring tiny blue blossoms also drew me in. Rosemary smells very Christmas-sy -- a light pine scent that smells... well, like I think pine should smell!
Rosemary is for remembrance, or so Ophelia claims in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Its pollen-laiden flowers are also for bees -- and they'll come from a long distance to sip from the rosemary bush. It does best in slightly sandy and alkaline soils (I'm planning on putting it in a container, actually, rather than throwing it into the heavy Texas clays.) And it loves sunshine -- something that Texas has quite a bit of.
It's great in baths, in rinses for hair, in shampoos, and slipped into a bottle of olive oil to make a lovely flavored oil. It's a classic seasoning for roast chicken, cheeses, and breads.
So if you fall in love with a bit of greenery to substitute as a tiny Christmas tree, consider the fragrant rosemary -- boon to bees, kitchen herb, delightful little shrub.
A bit about Rosemary: http://home.thirdage.com/Gardening/ane/R...
Rosemary Sorrel soup: http://www.sunriseherbfarm.com/recipes/r...
River Run herbed chicken http://www.bbdirectory.com/Inn/river-run...
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