Myddelton House Gardens and its Magical Mistletoe.

Myddelton House Gardens and its Magical Mistletoe.

When we think about Christmas plants, fir trees and holly are the first ones to spring to mind. But surely the most unusual yuletide plant people bring into their homes must be the annual bunch of mistletoe.

Did you know that there are about 1,500 species of mistletoe around the world? However, the only one you will find festooning trees in the UK is the European mistletoe (Viscum album). I decided to take a trip to find out more about this enigmatic plant.

The best place I know to see mistletoe growing in abundance is Myddelton House Gardens in Enfield. And the best person to tell me how it came to be growing here is Bryan Hewitt, gardener and historian. Bryan worked at Myddelton House Gardens for 34 years before leaving in July 2021. Bryan is the author of an authoritative biography of the famous gardener and botanist Edward Agustus ‘Gussie’ Bowles (1865-1954), who lived at the house and created its gardens.

Bryan told me that my December visit to Myddelton House Gardens was “appropriate for this time of year…[as] it is a garden noted for its mistletoe”.

When I asked why I could see mistletoe growing almost everywhere I looked, Bryan laughed, replying “this is no accident. Its abundance, particularly noticeable in winter, is almost entirely due to its late owner ‘Gussie’ Bowles”.

I asked, ‘how did E. A. Bowles go about cultivating so much mistletoe?” Bryan advised me to “look in Bowles’s book ‘My Garden in Autumn and Winter’ [first published in 1915] under the chapter ‘Berries’, he explains his detailed method of sowing the sticky berries to the branches of his host trees”.

It is interesting to note that when Bowles started to grow mistletoe, he tried letting nature do the job, by hanging up his Christmas bunch in the garden, hoping that the birds would eat the berries and distribute the seeds. Experience taught him that the only mistletoe plants he found growing in his trees sprang from seeds that he had personally sowed.

The Natural History of Mistletoe

Did you know mistletoe cannot grow on its own in the soil? Unlike most plants, mistletoe is a hemi-parasite, meaning it needs to grow on another plant to survive; think of Lord Voldemort attached to the head of Professor Quirrell.

In winter, when the leaves drop from the branches of deciduous trees, spheres of evergreen mistletoe magically emerge from their hiding places. Mistletoe latches onto its host via a pad known as a ‘haustoria’, which superficially resembles the holdfast of a seaweed. This structure penetrates the host tree’s vascular system, allowing the Mistletoe plant to extract water and nutrients. Mistletoe produces chlorophyll, so can manufacture some of its own food. While mistletoe steals basic supplies from its host, it typically won’t kill the tree outright. Instead, it weakens it over time. An otherwise healthy tree can usually withstand the mistletoe’s parasitic behaviour.

Mistletoe plants are either male or female. Only females will produce white berries after their tiny flowers have been pollinated by small flies. Mistletoe seeds are commonly spread by birds, particularly the mistle thrush and blackcap, which favour the berries. During winter, a mistle thrush will often defend its mistletoe clumps from feeding by other birds.

Walking around the gardens, Bryan tells me, “mistletoe thrives on members of the rose family, such as apple, almond, and hawthorn. But it can also be found living on trees from other families like the poplar. Here at Middelton House Gardens, we even have from Gussie’s time a Mount Etna broom (Genista aetnensis) made rare by a clump of mistletoe growing happily on it!”

Bryan is pleased that people come to the gardens to see the mistletoe but urges them to purchase their mistletoe from a reliable supplier, and never to steal it. “About 40 years ago in another part of the garden, we noticed mistletoe growing on a branch of Chaenomeles [Japanese Quince]. Sadly, in its second or third season, as Christmas drew close, some ‘kind’ person amputated it”.

As we head towards the carpark, Bryan stops to gesture towards some huge trees, “Look at those 150-year-old lime trees in the distance with vast dark globes of the parasitic shrub, they make the trees seem ‘cloud pruned’ by a giant Japanese Gardener!” His imagery is spot on!

Mistletoe Folklore

Now we know how it grows, let’s explore a few of the legends surrounding this magical plant. Mistletoe has been the subject of myths in many cultures. The Celts believed that hanging sprigs of mistletoe above their doors would protect them from evil spirits. Pliny the Elder, the Roman writer, described how Druid priests would cut mistletoe with a golden sickle and offer it to the Gods during winter solstice festivals. Romans, themselves, would hang mistletoe above doorways during annual Saturnalia celebrations. In Norse mythology, mistletoe is associated with the story of Balder, the son of Odin, who was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe. His mother’s tears are said to have transformed into the plant’s white berries, symbolizing her love for him. This tragic tale might even be the origin of its association with love and affection.

Pagans also associated the splayed leaves and milky white berries of mistletoe with fertility. Christianity sanitised its pagan past, and Mistletoe joined our Christmas celebrations as a romantic decoration. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe became popular in England among servants in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Tradition dictates that a woman standing under the mistletoe must allow any man to steal a kiss on the cheek. Refusal will result in bad luck quickly befalling the withholder of a kiss. A popular variation of this is that with every stolen kiss a berry must be plucked from the plant, and once all the berries have been removed then the smooching ceases. No wonder bunches with the most berries commanded the highest prices!

The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe continues:

“Mistletoe,” said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s head. He jumped out from under it. “Good thinking,” said Luna seriously. “It’s often infested with nargles.

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Final Thoughts

Mistletoe is more than just a Christmas decoration – it is a plant steeped in myth and tradition. From its parasitic lifestyle to its early associations with love and fertility, mistletoe holds a unique place in our yuletide celebrations. So why not take a Christmas trip to Myddelton House Gardens to see it growing for yourself? But remember, take only photographs and memories!

Further information:

Myddelton House Gardens, their opening times, and accessibility:

https://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/myddelton-house-gardens

To learn more about the life of E.A. Bowles and his importance as a gardener:

https://www.eabowlessociety.org.uk/

‘The Crocus King’ by Bryan Hewitt (Rockingham Press). ISBN-10: 1873468474

https://inpressbooks.co.uk/products/the-crocus-king-ea-bowles-of-myddelton-house

An earlier visit to Myddelton House Gardens:

https://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/blog/a-visit-to-myddelton-house-gardens/