Galax growing behind our house
Daddy was a Rock Mason, but he had the knowhow to fix anything, including electrical. One summer, he had me to help him do rock work for some rich folks from Indiana. I never read any of his books, but he was a writer. And the Misses ask me if I knew what mistletoe was. I had shot that stuff out many times before, and when it got near Christmas, I brought them a pokefull. She paid $2.00 and I thought I was rich. She told all her friends and they bought some too. All this, and for going to work with Daddy.
—Ken Roper
I’m not sure there’s many folks selling wild greenery for Christmas these days, but in days gone by it was a fairly large industry in parts of Western North Carolina.
John Parris’s book My Mountains My People published in 1957 had this to say about Galax in Western NC:
“For almost half a century many a mountain man has been using galax leaves for money. Right now the market is booming just as it does every year about this time for galax has become synonymous with Christmas, and the round heart-shaped leaves of bronze and wine red are fetching a pretty penny in the florist trade. Even during the depression there was a steady market for them in the North where they were used for funeral wreaths. As an industry confined to our mountains, gallackin’ that’s what mountain folks call gathering the leaves is comparatively new. Some folks say that T.N. Woodruff up at Low Gap started it back in 1907 when he visited a florist friend in New York and took him a few bunches of galax leaves as a gift.“
Long time Blind Pig reader Ed Ammons said he never knew about gallackin but he did gather moss and boxwood cuttings to sell to florists.
Ed said “Way back in the woods, in deep dark damp hollers where the sun never shines, the thick moss on big rocks can be peeled off like taking covers off a bed. I have seen pieces as big as 4 to 5 feet square. We would roll them up and put them in a tow sack. Boxwood is a domestic plant so we found it around homes and old house sites. One year in November we waded across the Little Tennessee above Loudermilk to get to an old homestead. I wasn’t being careful about where I was putting my feet and stepped into a hole that put me completely under. I got out, shook off and kept going. Coming back across we had to put our tow sacks on our heads to keep them dry but we made it unscathed.”
While I’ve never sold mistletoe, galax, nor moss I have always been enamored by the beautiful plants especially during Christmastime.
Last night’s video: The Greening of Christmas.
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The Lord always provides. Last week I got out in the yard and found a few greens and made them up right pretty. I was wishing for more since it was pretty sparce. I’m older now with no one to trek through the woods with me like it used to be so I don’t get out in the woods now. Today after having lunch with friends I drove through the old neighborhood where I grew up. Just a few houses from where I grew up, the power company had cut some pretty greenery and it was laying by the road. The young man that lived there came out with his hand saw and I asked him if he would let me have a few sprigs and he said he would cut it into pieces and that I could have all I wanted. What more could I ask for to make swags and to put into my clay crocks? I was delighted! Tomorrow I hope to make some good use of todays “find.” I’m looking forward to it! That’s more proof of how God supplies. Some people might say “That’s odd.” I say “That’s God.”
I’ve seen people in the past selling greenery made into beautiful all natural wreaths. My son in-law bought a huge greenery wreath one year to put on the outside of their house and it lasted for several months, surprisingly. That was back before Covid hit our area. I haven’t seen anyone selling them since. Not sure why no one’s selling it anymore. I really enjoyed watching your video of you and Matt gathering the greenery and you making the beautiful decorative pieces, wreaths and the big over the door hanging. You did such a beautiful job at arranging them.
I’d never heard of greening until watching your channel. I didn’t know certain greens were sold back in the day; that’s really interesting. 🙂 Galax looks like a pretty plant!
As youngsters, a group of us neighborhood kids were hired by a seasonal tree lot entrepreneur to harvest mistletoe for him. When we discovered how much he marked it up for sale, we stopped selling to him and sold it door to door and at busy street corners for half as much as he asked. We made what for us was ‘a killing’.
Thanks for the entertaining and educating video on you tube yesterday. I always learn something new from you, Tipper.
Love your “greening of Christmas”video and this post. I have seen Galax before but never knew its name and we never used it for decorating. It, and all the plants that stay green through the winter, are beautiful. We have a small patch of woods beside our home, and every time my two youngest granddaughters visit, they immediately ask to go walk in the “forest”. It’s so sweet that they think our little patch of trees is a forest. The other day we looked at trees and frost on the ground and water puddles. They like to pick up sticks, hang onto grapevines growing in the trees, and find acorns, nuts and rocks. The things we find change with the seasons—but we always find something interesting and new to explore, and they love it.
Thank you for yesterday and today’s post on ‘greening up’. I’ve never heard of that expression before, however, yesterday my husband and I went walking through the bush and got some spruce and cedar branches. They’re sitting on my kitchen table in a pretty red vase. My, they do smell and look good. I think this summer I’m going to plant some boxwoods around the yard, then eventually I can add that to my arrangements.
There is a small family-owned place here in town that goes and gets their Christmas trees from the mountains to sell each year and they also use the clippings from the trees to make wreaths. Occasionally they will have some mistletoe for sale. They usually sell out in about two days. I love all the greenery at Christmas and Tipper you did a fantastic job greening up your house. My favorite is your swag. It’s beautiful. I can only imagine how good it smells in there.
In my younger day’s I gathered mistletoe, galax and holly to sell and for my mother. At that time galax was selling for a penny a leaf, tied in bunches of 25.
We never used Galax for decorating at Christmastime when I was growing up. Now I will wonder why we didn’t. Maybe it didn’t grow in the hills of eastern KY. It’s been a long time since I heard someone say knowhow instead of knowledge.
Oh Tipper, I enjoyed this so much and everything was just beautiful. I wish I had all the different pine trees around so I could go do the same. But it brought back precious memories of when I was a child. We’d load up and head from Indiana to dad’s hometown of Russell Springs, KY. We’d go out and gather a car load of mistletoe and bring it home. We’d all sit around the kitchen table in an assembly line. Some broke twigs, some bagged it, some stapled the bags shut and some boxed it up. Then off we’d head with dad as the salesman going in flower shops and grocery stores while we waited in the car and him selling the little bags of mistletoe for a quarter a bag. It was our Christmas tradition and he had regular customers waiting for him each year. I had no idea then, that was his was of affording to buy us Christmas presents each year. Dad has been gone almost 7 yrs now and Christmas just isn’t the same. Most of the family has moved away and no longer comes home for the holidays since they have new traditions. But this just touched my heart today and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
To your newer readers, I am that old man who is crazy enough to name his one and only holly tree. I call her Holly Holy. Newer readers and newer people in general may not understand my reasoning in naming her that. I hope you do or learn to!
We lived in Virginia at the beginning of our military journey & Williamsburg has the most beautiful natural decor. I have some DVDs on how much work it takes to decorate the town & some tutorials for home creations.
I’ve loved your Christmas greenery related videos & post as well. Bringing nature inside at Christmas is as good as all the sweets. Adds a layer of substance & tradition anyway.
Hey Laura Lee- those tiny red things were CHIGGERS, lady friend!!! Lol Every morning, as I traipse the woods to feed the stray cats, I pass by Galax growing and I think of you, Tipper! I knew of the town of the annual Fiddler’s Convention, but had no idea what those pretty plants were until I learned from you, lady friend!!! Wouldn’t you love to see an arrangement composed of Galax, Miss, mistletoe, boxwood, hemlock, spruce, cedar or what have you???? I’m dishing on myself-ordered myself flowers and should get them today!!! I love, love, love outside, nature, animals and flowers of every type. Jesus’ bless and keep granny and the little mothers-to-be safely in your loving hands!!! THANKYOU, Tipper, for all the knowledge you impart to me!!! You’re adored and loved, sister from another mister!!!
Back in the 1930’s and later, my Grandfather would sell holly during the Christmas season. We have a HUGE holly tree on our Southern Maryland farm (it’s still standing and beautiful) where folks would drive from Washington, DC and Virginia to purchase branches from him. Those same customers would come back in the summer just to buy some of his cantaloupes which were kind of a cross of honey dews and cantaloupe. He was so proud of his cantaloupes AND that tree. I can’t look at that tree without thinking of him, though he’s been gone since 1970. My Daddy used to make his extra money shooting mistletoe out of trees and gathering running cedar. I don’t even know if there is mistletoe to be found around here anymore, but I do see running cedar. Daddy would also go oystering and sell them to the “city folk”, too.
Loved the stories and your greenery video. I don’t have an eye for creating but I know what I like when I see it. The greenery you made was very pretty
I also love the greenery at Christmas. I have a sprig of mistletoe I have had for the longest time. decades I guess. there is an old Scott’s superstition that if you hang mistletoe in your house it won’t burn down. so far it has done me well
My Sisters and their Families gathered and sold Galax and other greenery for Years.Growing up I loved the different greenery and the smell at Christmas time.
Ohhhh, I love that green moss you show down near the creek. Growing up in Florida, I’m used to the moss handing from trees. That stuff had red bugs. They were so tiny and if they got on ya it was hard to get them off. Mama would put a dab of clear fingernail polish on them. I guess colored polish would work too, but look funny. I hadn’t thought about that in years.
I remember my daddy bringing home mistletoe when I was a kid. He would hang in on the door coming in the house.
Thanks for the jog of my memories.
Love this little article. Thank you for posting a picture of Galax leaves as I’ve never seen it. I just finished reading the book “Christy” and remember reading about Christy and Fairlight having picnics in the mountains and using Galax leaves as a plate for their lunch. Also, I remember Christy marveling at the English Boxwood that was planted at nearly all the mountain homes. I guess their ancestors loved it enough to bring it with them when they migrated to the US from the UK.
While seeing you ‘green’ you house, it brought to mind how I miss the ‘green’ of the mountains of upstate Georgia. Down here in upstate Florida we have mostly oak and pine…not much beauty in their green. And gosh do I dislike oak leaves. They cover the grass to the point of killing the grass if your don’t rake or mow. Our girls are getting a cypress tree or something close to plant this Christmas so that it can grow to the point they can decorate and leave it decorated year around. Maybe next year I can ‘green’ a little. Thank you so much for what you do to promote your ‘Appalachia’ and know that you do have faithful followers. Prayer for Granny and of course you guys….well done on your greening.
Here in far north North Carolina grass goes dormant long before oak trees lose their leaves. In fact some of the oaks hold on to their leaves until Spring.