A Buyers Guide to Fresh Balsam Fir Christmas Wreaths

A Legend Fresh from Nova Scotia
• During the Christmas season, choosing the perfect Christmas wreath for your home can be an intricate part of the holiday spirit as any Christmas tree. Though, like many handmade Christmas products, Christmas wreaths can have many different materials; the century's old Christmas icon, however, will always be the deep, fragrant, Balsam fir Christmas wreath. Patricia DeLong, founder of DeLong Farms Christmas Wreaths, a prominent Nova Scotian Balsam fir Christmas wreath and Christmas tree company, outlines the finer points of selecting a quality Balsam fir Christmas wreath. A Quality Christmas Wreath

• “We are an old family business in an area with a long tradition for Balsam fir Christmas trees,” Patricia says. “My brother, Jim DeLong, has an outstanding Balsam fir Christmas tree company that he took over from our father. Our farm and the people who work here have always appreciated the intricacies of quality Balsam fir and the Christmas products we make from them. If you want a robust, fragrant Balsam fir Christmas wreath that will last not only the Christmas season, but the winter as well, you will need to be able to spot the signs of quality Balsam fir brush.” Balsam Fir Freshness

• “Fresh and pliable,” Patricia explains. “If the Balsam fir brush is still fresh and full of sap, you should be able to bend the tips of the branches without breaking.” Much like other firs, Balsam fir can survive long periods with sufficient moisture in their system. This is why if you run your fingers against the grain of the needles, they should stay attached and bounce back into place because the Balsam fir is still alive. Patricia continues, “If the brush snaps or the needles fall off when you touch them, the fir has dried out and is no longer any good for in a Christmas wreath. If the Christmas wreath you purchase is not fresh, it will turn and die long before you would want it to.”

  Color and Length of the Needles
  

• “The needles of the Balsam fir are very important,” Patricia emphasizes. “For the finest quality of any Balsam fir Christmas product, the needles of the brush have to be a deep, dark green, with shorter needles growing closely together.” Balsam fir brush with longer, sparsely set needles come from older, unkempt Balsam firs and can have a shoddy appearance. Professional Balsam fir craft persons may even manage their trees with annual shearing to keep them full and hearty. DeLong farms even goes so far as to collect the cones from a few choice Balsam fir 'seed trees' to transplant in the forests they grow their Balsam fir. Also, a wreath that has a faded, more yellowish hue is not only less attractive, but could also keep poorly over the Christmas season. “Lush needles with a deep green color;” Patricia explains, “Not only are these a show of the health of a Balsam fir, but are the measure of how we here in Nova Scotia judge the characteristics of quality brush.” A Nova Scotian Trade Secret

• “I wouldn't call it a 'trade secret' as much as a Nova Scotian tradition,” Patricia laughs. “One of the keys to a great Nova Scotian Balsam fir Christmas wreath is not to harvest the Balsam fir until after there have been at least sixteen good frosts on the ground. These frosts set the needles for the winter and fortify the Balsam fir for wreath making. If the Balsam fir is harvested too soon, the needles will dry and spoil that much quicker. If purchasing locally, try to avoid anything cut too early in the season. My husband, Greg, the sales manager of our mail order business,” Patricia smiles, “calls this the 'Legend Fresh from Nova Scotia.'”
  

  Written by Jordan Dickie: jordandickie@bestword.ca
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