Thanksgiving, Coleus, and Ruth

The Thanksgiving table tends to look great when covered in rich colors. Then there is the question of what to use as a centerpiece. Coleus, with its velvety foliage in rich jewel tones, is catching my eye this year for a centerpiece on the Thanksgiving table.

Now, a little background: I have to rejoice in this fact…. It’s back! The “big Thanksgiving” is back. With years during the worst of the Pandemic passing with little company to entertain, Thanksgiving this year is going to be substantial. And I could not be happier.

Part of the fun for me is the decorating. Another part is the cooking. And the biggest part is the people. But when it comes to the decorating, I am sometimes at a loss at this time of year. I love Mums, but I have had my fill of them by now. Sunflowers are impressive, and cut flowers are gorgeous, but I find myself wanting something a little more enduring. I want some potted plants. I want some velvety Coleus.

My go-to spots for buying plants are not likely to have Coleus at this time of year. Their Coleus plants have already gone through two below-freezing nights to harm the strength of their stems and blacken their foliage. But online, I can get Coleus with relative ease. And while lots of things at Thanksgiving are accompanied by the mantra, “the bigger, the better”, the petite-leaf Swinging Linda Coleus is especially “fitting” (pun intended) for my table.

Swinging Linda Coleus is dark and rich, with the purple and wine tones I find extremely appealing with the striking orange of Jack Be Little pumpkins, some glossy cream-colored gourds, and maybe decorative sheafs of wheat that I have recently seen for sale at my local market. The Swinging Linda Coleus—times three, I would say—would look wonderful down the center of my table on a dark cloth. Dramatic. Moody. Lovely.

Now, I think it is important to say that if your Thanksgiving is not shaping up so well, you should do anything BUT despair. We all experience less jubilant years. Still, we can make them a time to give thanks. And setting a pretty table and spiffing up one’s home, even for oneself, is very important.

If you do find yourself with a less-than-great holiday looming, try something different. Volunteer opportunities during Thanksgiving week are endless, and you can use your time in a much more productive way than you would if nibbling stuffing or slicing a pie. But if those table-based activities draw you in, as they do me, then open your door to someone you have never considered. 

I learned this lesson as a much younger person, and it has stayed in my mind for decades. Amid consistently happy holidays, my parents and I approached a melancholy sort of holiday. No need to tell the origin of this melancholy. But this holiday of the past turned out to be a lovely, lovely Thanksgiving. It was what I like to call the “Thanksgiving of Ruth”.

Ruth was an older woman, a friend of my dad’s family. She had worked in my grandfather’s business, but then she had branched off. I knew her only by name, and my folks knew her just a bit. They bumped into Ruth while shopping, and they learned she had lost her husband, was far from her children, and was purchasing some food for a solitary meal. Now, you know what happened next…. Ruth joined us for Thanksgiving that year. She brought cookies that were the most delectable I have had—cookies I have never been able to re-create. She talked and smiled and enjoyed. And we, the people who were preparing to be melancholy, did the same. The Thanksgiving of Ruth was followed by some December greetings from Ruth and then some letters to note she had moved to a new state to be closer to her children. She popped into our lives, and then she popped out. But she became our family, our friend, our saving grace for one Thanksgiving. She would have said the same for us, too, I believe. And the happiness around the table that year was palpable.

So, whether it is a large gathering or a small one, you can turn what could be just like any other day into something special. You can be a “Ruth” to someone else. Or you can host a “Ruth”. And you can set up some pretty sights within your home to make your holiday special. Time to put in an early order for the Coleus plants for the table. Happy Holiday, Friend!