In a Vase, On Monday – Thanksgiving

Chris Mousseau

There have been days of thanksgiving celebrated in Canada since the 16th century, but its current date – the second Monday of October – was officially proclaimed a national holiday by the federal government quite recently – 1957. Like our American neighbours to the south (who celebrate Thanksgiving the 4th Thursday of November), the intention has been, generally, to enjoy and give thanks for a bountiful harvest by gathering with family to eat copious amounts of food, traditionally featuring just harvested vegetables, pumpkin pie and, of course, roasted turkey. I made a pie yesterday and today we’re off to my aunt and uncle’s home a few hundred kilometres west to enjoy their company – and a great meal. While the pie was baking I went into the garden to fill a vase with the most Thanksgiving-y flowers I could find. With thanks (!) to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for providing a Monday home for gardeners around the world to share a vase of flowers, here are Dahlia ‘Wynn’s Desert Sunrise’ (the big one), Dahlia ‘Just Peachy’ and an unnamed orange Zinnia. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As a post script – the wild turkeys we’ve had strutting around the yard all year will NOT be part of anyone’s Thanksgiving dinner!:

18 Comments

  4. I’m glad to learn that the turkeys are safe! Happy Thanksgiving! Your beautiful flowers are perfect for the holiday. It’s highly doubtful I’ll have any dahlias left when it comes time to celebrate the holiday in the US.

    1. Thanks Kris – looks like we’ll get close to the end of October before I’ll be digging up tubers..meanwhile, my parents, living a couple zones warmer, on the B.C. coast, had their first frost last night!

  6. Wonderful, and perfect flowers! Happy Thanksgiving. I have friends who hunt. They tell me the turkeys taste like the acorns they eat..tannic, butter is the only solution and the grocery store is a better idea for sourcing the meat course.

  8. Although it is not a Holiday that is sanctioned by the Church, Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday. I do not enjoy most of the other Holidays, which have become excuses to get drunk and party and generally behave badly.

    1. I know a few ex-pat Americans living here who get to celebrate it twice. It can be fun but you’re right, there’s no temptation to drink too much. Eating too much, on the other hand…😆😆

  9. Chris, I hope your Thanksgiving was joyous. Your flowers are beautiful and so vibrant. I bet they looked beautiful on a table.

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