VenetiaJane’s Garden
@venetiajane.bsky.social
Sharing the wonders of flowers and nature, gardening, plant history, folklore, art, and poetry. Bedfordshire photographer for the National Garden Scheme charity. #SolaceInNature #DailyBotanicalBeauty
https://www.venetiajane.co.uk
https://www.venetiajane.co.uk
9 December: In Victorian London, “Robin Dinners” gave roast beef and plum pudding to thousands of poor children from ragged schools. Robins were linked to Christmas giving, inspired by Victorian postmen in red coats called “Robin Redbreast”, seen as cheery messengers of goodwill. #ChristmasCardDay
December 9, 2025 at 12:30 AM
9 December: In Victorian London, “Robin Dinners” gave roast beef and plum pudding to thousands of poor children from ragged schools. Robins were linked to Christmas giving, inspired by Victorian postmen in red coats called “Robin Redbreast”, seen as cheery messengers of goodwill. #ChristmasCardDay
As tomorrow, 9th December, is #ChristmasCardDay, I thought I would celebrate by creating a festive collage of some of my Christmas card designs for you to enjoy. There’s still time to order if you need any!
December 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
As tomorrow, 9th December, is #ChristmasCardDay, I thought I would celebrate by creating a festive collage of some of my Christmas card designs for you to enjoy. There’s still time to order if you need any!
8 Dec: Feast of the Immaculate Conception. White #roses are a symbol of Mary’s Immaculate Conception signifying her purity of body and soul. Their unstained petals were seen as reflecting Mary’s sinless nature, and offered as tokens of devotion and hope on this #winter feast day.
December 8, 2025 at 8:06 AM
A mosaic of fallen leaves; beauty in decay.
December 7, 2025 at 8:16 PM
A mosaic of fallen leaves; beauty in decay.
7 Dec: Legend tells of a bird with a broken wing who begged each tree for shelter from the cold. All the trees refused; only a fir tree offered it sanctuary. For this kindness the Frost King decreed that the North Wind should never blow away its leaves in winter. #FolkloreSunday
December 7, 2025 at 12:30 AM
7 Dec: Legend tells of a bird with a broken wing who begged each tree for shelter from the cold. All the trees refused; only a fir tree offered it sanctuary. For this kindness the Frost King decreed that the North Wind should never blow away its leaves in winter. #FolkloreSunday
As daylight wanes and the nights lengthen toward the #WinterSolstice, the Christmas Rose’s pale petals seem to glow at dusk, gathering and holding the last light of day.
December 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM
As daylight wanes and the nights lengthen toward the #WinterSolstice, the Christmas Rose’s pale petals seem to glow at dusk, gathering and holding the last light of day.
6 Dec: Cross-leaved Heath, Erica tetralix, is the flower dedicated to St Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated today. Through the compassion and generosity of his legendary miracles, he became known as the gift-bearer, bringing joy and hope to all at the year’s darkest time.
December 6, 2025 at 7:03 AM
6 Dec: Cross-leaved Heath, Erica tetralix, is the flower dedicated to St Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated today. Through the compassion and generosity of his legendary miracles, he became known as the gift-bearer, bringing joy and hope to all at the year’s darkest time.
On 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas’s feast day, old French tradition tells of Père Noël travelling from house to house on a gentle donkey named Gui. Laden with baskets of sweets and toys, Gui brings good fortune too, for his name means “mistletoe,” the ancient charm of luck.
December 5, 2025 at 12:30 AM
On 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas’s feast day, old French tradition tells of Père Noël travelling from house to house on a gentle donkey named Gui. Laden with baskets of sweets and toys, Gui brings good fortune too, for his name means “mistletoe,” the ancient charm of luck.
4th December is St. Barbara’s Day. On this day there is an old countryside tradition of cutting a “Barbara branch” from a cherry tree. The branch is kept in a pot of water by the stove, and if it blossoms by #Christmas all the household’s wishes will come true the following year!
December 4, 2025 at 4:30 PM
4th December is St. Barbara’s Day. On this day there is an old countryside tradition of cutting a “Barbara branch” from a cherry tree. The branch is kept in a pot of water by the stove, and if it blossoms by #Christmas all the household’s wishes will come true the following year!
4 Dec: Old lore tells that when Mary gave birth, the stable was bitterly cold. With no dry logs, a shepherd cut fresh ash wood. Green wood should not burn, yet the logs blazed. Folk say that’s why ash, however green, still burns brightly, and brings us welcome warmth to this day.
December 4, 2025 at 8:07 AM
4 Dec: Old lore tells that when Mary gave birth, the stable was bitterly cold. With no dry logs, a shepherd cut fresh ash wood. Green wood should not burn, yet the logs blazed. Folk say that’s why ash, however green, still burns brightly, and brings us welcome warmth to this day.
December’s #FullMoon is the Cold Moon and Oak Moon. In this lunar month the #Yule All-Heal rite was kept: on its sixth day white-robed Druids cut mistletoe from the oak with a golden sickle. Given to each home, it was said to deepen prayers, stir dreams and seal a kiss of peace.
December 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The picture I chose to illustrate this post is a detail from the November/December page of an early 20th century Fairbanks Fairy Floral Calendar. The N. K. Fairbanks Company produced Fairy Soap.
December 3, 2025 at 8:32 AM
The picture I chose to illustrate this post is a detail from the November/December page of an early 20th century Fairbanks Fairy Floral Calendar. The N. K. Fairbanks Company produced Fairy Soap.
3 Dec: On winter nights the fairy queen and her elves polish holly leaves to make them shine. The prickly leaves wound their tiny hands as they work, but they have no care, for every drop of fairy blood turns into a bright red berry, adorning the holly for the #Christmas season!
December 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
3 Dec: On winter nights the fairy queen and her elves polish holly leaves to make them shine. The prickly leaves wound their tiny hands as they work, but they have no care, for every drop of fairy blood turns into a bright red berry, adorning the holly for the #Christmas season!
Cold nights have worked their frosty magic on these ‘Golden Hornet’ crab apples, turning each one a different shade of gold, russet and dark plum. A little of nature’s alchemy, and suddenly the tree is decorated with small painted Christmas baubles!
December 2, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Cold nights have worked their frosty magic on these ‘Golden Hornet’ crab apples, turning each one a different shade of gold, russet and dark plum. A little of nature’s alchemy, and suddenly the tree is decorated with small painted Christmas baubles!
2 Dec: In #Norse lore, Frigg watches over marriage, fertility & motherhood. When her son Baldr fell to a mistletoe arrow, she knelt beside him in grief. Her tears touched the bare sprig that struck him, and each drop turned into a white berry—a reminder to cherish those we love.
December 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM
2 Dec: In #Norse lore, Frigg watches over marriage, fertility & motherhood. When her son Baldr fell to a mistletoe arrow, she knelt beside him in grief. Her tears touched the bare sprig that struck him, and each drop turned into a white berry—a reminder to cherish those we love.
December’s berried gifts.
December 1, 2025 at 7:36 PM
December’s berried gifts.
My husband bought me this book by Jane Hall @clothofnature as a surprise advent gift. I have only looked at the first page (no peeping ahead!), and already know each page I turn in the lead up to Christmas will be filled with lovely magical surprises from nature! #BookChatWeekly
December 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM
My husband bought me this book by Jane Hall @clothofnature as a surprise advent gift. I have only looked at the first page (no peeping ahead!), and already know each page I turn in the lead up to Christmas will be filled with lovely magical surprises from nature! #BookChatWeekly
1 Dec: The ‘Christmas Rose’ or ‘Winter Rose’ (Helleborus niger) is one of the birth flowers of #December. An old legend says that when humankind fell from grace and Paradise lay shrouded in snow, the angels carried this bloom to earth as a sign of love and mercy. #Plantlore
December 1, 2025 at 12:30 AM
1 Dec: The ‘Christmas Rose’ or ‘Winter Rose’ (Helleborus niger) is one of the birth flowers of #December. An old legend says that when humankind fell from grace and Paradise lay shrouded in snow, the angels carried this bloom to earth as a sign of love and mercy. #Plantlore
Wildflowers found on a lovely, sunny walk through the village on the last day of November. Prickly sowthistle, yarrow, wood avens, red dead-nettle, cyclamen, bramble, white dead-nettle, hawksbeard, feverfew and some hazel catkins impatient for spring! #TheWinter10 #WildflowerHour
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Wildflowers found on a lovely, sunny walk through the village on the last day of November. Prickly sowthistle, yarrow, wood avens, red dead-nettle, cyclamen, bramble, white dead-nettle, hawksbeard, feverfew and some hazel catkins impatient for spring! #TheWinter10 #WildflowerHour
The name #Yule is sometimes traced to Old English hweol, “wheel”, a reflection of the sun’s circular journey through the solstices and equinoxes. At the #WinterSolstice, that ancient wheel turns from darkness toward light once more. #FolkloreSunday
November 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM
The name #Yule is sometimes traced to Old English hweol, “wheel”, a reflection of the sun’s circular journey through the solstices and equinoxes. At the #WinterSolstice, that ancient wheel turns from darkness toward light once more. #FolkloreSunday
On the Eve of #StAndrewsDay, 29th November, it was an old custom in some parts of Germany for maidens & bachelors to shake an apple, pear, or plum tree. If a dog barked while they did so, it was said their future spouse would come from the direction of the sound. #FolkloreSunday
November 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
On the Eve of #StAndrewsDay, 29th November, it was an old custom in some parts of Germany for maidens & bachelors to shake an apple, pear, or plum tree. If a dog barked while they did so, it was said their future spouse would come from the direction of the sound. #FolkloreSunday
Here is the rest of the poem ‘Salute to the Trees’ by Henry Van Dyke. #NationalTreeWeek
November 29, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Here is the rest of the poem ‘Salute to the Trees’ by Henry Van Dyke. #NationalTreeWeek
“Many a tree is found in the wood
And every tree for its use is good:
Some for the strength of the gnarled root,
Some for the sweetness of flower and fruit;
Some for a shelter against the storm,
And some to keep the hearthstone warm”
- from ‘Salute to the Trees’ by Henry Van Dyke #NationalTreeWeek
And every tree for its use is good:
Some for the strength of the gnarled root,
Some for the sweetness of flower and fruit;
Some for a shelter against the storm,
And some to keep the hearthstone warm”
- from ‘Salute to the Trees’ by Henry Van Dyke #NationalTreeWeek
November 29, 2025 at 9:12 AM
“Many a tree is found in the wood
And every tree for its use is good:
Some for the strength of the gnarled root,
Some for the sweetness of flower and fruit;
Some for a shelter against the storm,
And some to keep the hearthstone warm”
- from ‘Salute to the Trees’ by Henry Van Dyke #NationalTreeWeek
And every tree for its use is good:
Some for the strength of the gnarled root,
Some for the sweetness of flower and fruit;
Some for a shelter against the storm,
And some to keep the hearthstone warm”
- from ‘Salute to the Trees’ by Henry Van Dyke #NationalTreeWeek
The Aesculus hippocastanum #tree, native to the Balkan peninsula, was introduced to Britain around 400 years ago. Its species name “hippocastanum” literally means “horse chestnut”. Some say it was given this name because its leaf scars resemble the shape of a horse shoe. #nature
November 28, 2025 at 8:16 AM
“Magical things happen every day, if we allow it. Think of daylight, of the stars at night, a flower. A dandelion is a miracle.” - P. L. Travers (1899-1996). #Thanksgiving #nature
November 27, 2025 at 8:26 AM
“Magical things happen every day, if we allow it. Think of daylight, of the stars at night, a flower. A dandelion is a miracle.” - P. L. Travers (1899-1996). #Thanksgiving #nature