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Holiday Decorations Without the Electric Bill

December 19th, 2012 by Lila Steinhoff

Even Palms Celebrate

‘Tis the season… even for palm trees.

Christmas PalmChristmas Palm

The Christmas Palm (scientific name Veitchia merrillii) gets its name from the green oval-shaped fruit that turns bright red in December. Nature creates its own Christmas ornaments with a non-electric holiday display.

Holly… Sort Of

Another Florida plant with the traditional holiday red and green is the Brazilian Pepper Tree which is called Florida Holly. It has red berries in December.

Brazilian Pepper Tree aka Florida HollyBrazilian Pepper Tree aka Florida Holly

The Brazilian Pepper Tree (scientific name Schinus terebinthifolius) is an invasive species in Florida. It belongs to the same family as poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. After moving to Florida, I found out early on that this plant and I could not be anywhere  near each other. Just touching the leaves of this tree causes me serious skin irritation. When the tree blooms, I have major allergy issues.

Floridians who have no reaction to the  Brazilian Pepper tree use the foliage and berries as decorations at this time of the year.

I Like Non-Electric

While running errands this week, I passed quite a few homes that were celebrating the season with ornaments and decorations that do not require electricity.

bottle palm with ornamentsBottle Palm

They are just as festive in the day time as most light displays are when it is dark.

Photo gallery of  holiday decorations.

Click on any picture to make it larger, then click on the right or left side of the image to move through the gallery.

 

 

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