With an abundance of and a dearth of evergreen trees east of I-25, two Eastern Plains women came up with an alternative Christmas tree from .
Their rotund yet prickly creation is a four-year tradition at the CrossRoads MarketPlace store in La Junta, but this year is the first time that Rhonda Jones and Barb Ingles have assembled their 7-foot tumbleweed tree outside the shop.
The new location draws extra attention from passers-by, and has the added advantage of easier clean-up. Tumbleweeds (in Colorado, they’re usually or ) tend to shed. An individual plant can contain up to 250,000 seeds, as Jones and Ingles well know.
“We got new carpeting in the store last year,” Jones said, “and a tumbleweed tree is a mess going in and going out. So we decided to keep it outside this year.”
She and Ingles were inspired by a tumbleweed tree that’s For 58 years, the city has constructed a gigantic tumbleweed tree supported by guy wires, chicken wire and a substantial central pole.
“The Chandler people gave us some great details on what to look for in a tumbleweed, the framework and how to tie them on,” Jones said.
For the do-it-yourselfer, the method includes collecting single-stem tumbleweeds of graduated sizes.
The biggest ones form the base and are attached to sturdy pole stabilized in a large pot. Using thick work gloves and a lot of caution, Jones and Ingles then cut a bowl shape in the top of the bottom row of tumbleweeds, allowing smaller ones to nestle seamlessly into them. The additional weeds are wired to the pole, then pruned and spray-painted with flame retardant and white paint.
It takes between seven and 10 tumbleweeds to make a 7-foot-tall tree. Fortunately — or not, depending on how you feel about at certain times of the year — there are plenty for the taking in this part of Colorado.
“We get inundated with tumbleweeds down here,” Jones said. “We’re encouraging everyone to make something out of tumbleweed. Snowmen! Tumbleweed Christmas trees!”
Jones and Ingles managed to interest the La Junta city council in considering a jumbo-sized version of their store’s tumbleweed tree. They went before the city council to propose a 30-foot tree, secured with a tall, sturdy pole, guy wires and a chicken-wire form to which the tumbleweeds could be fastened.
“A tumbleweed tree is one of the things in the hopper for next year,” said city manager Rick Klein. “We’re interested in what we can do to make downtown La Junta more prosperous, and we just got a grant for a trails program, so 2015 is going to be a great, exciting year.
“And I love those ladies. Maybe their idea is the one that’s going to go forward.”
Jones and Ingles hope so.
“We’ve already got the LED lights for a big tree,” Jones said. “And we’ve purchased a 28-foot pole. We’ve made a vested interest.”
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin
