We got a bunch of live poinsettias (see below for the legend) to put in decorative planters in front with a white lit garland at their base. We have 15" snowflakes hanging in our tree lit at night with some white rope lights. On our front windshield we have a manger scene that is lit at night by a light - unfortunately it just shows as the white shade in the photos. We have a little Christmas tree sitting on our patio table which you can't see in these photos.
Here are various other RVs decorated in our park. Clicking on each photo to enlarge the photo might help to see them.
Here is how we came to have the Poinsettia:
It was the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Joel Robert Poinsett (1825-1829) who promoted them best and made the plant popular. Some believe Poinsett found the plants growing on a hillside near Taxco, Mexico, in 1823, and others say he first saw them adorning the churches of Taxco. Wherever they were discovered, Poinsett realized a gem, and introduced them to the United States around 1825 to 1828.
Poinsett, an enthusiastic botanist, brought the plant to his home in South Carolina. There he not only propagated the poinsettia in his greenhouse for family and friends and community, he sent the plants to different botanical gardens around the world. While Poinsett was not considered a great ambassador, his promotion of the poinsettia was definitely his greatest achievement.
The first Poinsettias were sold in the United States about 1850. Today there are over 50 million sold each year. While the common red is most popular, there are actually over 100 varieties in many colors.
This is the Legend of the Poinsettia
( Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night)
A charming story is told of Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve Services. As Pepita walked slowly to the chapel with her cousin Pedro, her heart was filled with sadness rather than joy.
"I am sure, Pepita, that even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes," said Pedro consolingly.
Not knowing what else to do, Pepita knelt by the roadside and gathered a handful of common weeds, fashioning them into a small bouquet. Looking at the scraggly bunch of weeds, she felt more saddened and embarrassed than ever by the humbleness of her offering. She fought back a tear as she entered the small village chapel.
As she approached the alter, she remembered Pedro's kind words: "Even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes." She felt her spirit lift as she knelt to lay the bouquet at the foot of the nativity scene.
Suddenly, the bouquet of weeds burst into blooms of brilliant red, and all who saw them were certain that they had witnessed a Christmas miracle right before their eyes.
From that day on, the bright red flowers were known as the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night, for they bloomed each year during the Christmas season.
Today, the common name for this plant is the poinsettia!
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