We kick off our 2018 Wreath of the Day feature with a very scary tale – our entire wreath project was endangered last week when winter storms blasted through Canada and the upper Midwest, leaving multiple feet of snow on the ground and blanketing the roads with ice and snow. In fact, snow in Canada began much earlier than usual, and by October, many tree farms were buried so deeply that workers could not access the trees to prune. The prunings are used to make the holiday wreaths we all enjoy. Even when wreaths were made, they still had to be transported to the lower 48, and trucking was stalled everywhere. Our masterful supplier, Pat Riccardi, had obtained a truckload of standard sized wreaths for us which he was keeping in a truck under lock and key to keep pilferers away, but larger sizes were basically unavailable. The phone calling began, and co-chair Margaret Pokorny ended up traveling to New Hampshire to “score” our 16″ large sized wreaths, which then had to be driven down to The First Lutheran Church. We are warning everyone to secure their wreaths tightly to doors, since wreath theft may be more of a problem this year. Wreath prices, and tree prices, are up by 30%, according to Chris Mitchell, who runs the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay tree sale, going on at the Clarendon Street Playground this weekend, December 8 and 9. To illustrate the snowy near-catastrophe, we feature a silver, black and white flocked wreath which has been hung indoors by the purchaser. Check out our Instagram page @gardenclubbackbay to see it in its new home.
