The host of Christmas past

For some people, holiday remnants lift spirits; for others, it's high time for tulips

Christmas wreaths still adorn Boston Public Library, though it is February and most people have traded visions of sugar plums for dreams of spring. (Dina Rudick/Globe Staff)

Christmas comes but once a year, the old song goes. But in Boston, it sure does stay awhile.

Seasonal wreaths still deck the walls of the Boston Public Library. Red and silver balls wrapped in bows adorn Back Bay lampposts. A 15-foot Christmas tree with light strands graces Copley Square, and seasonal white lights sparkle from the trees on Commonwealth Avenue and North End Park.

Groundhog Day has come and gone, as have most New Year's resolutions. Good luck finding a reservation for Valentine's Day, and spring training is just around the corner. Yet across the city, Christmas trimmings are hanging on, six weeks after Santa Claus hung up his hat for the winter.

Who cares what the calendar says? Many say Christmas has no expiration date, and the seasonal decorations boost people's spirits.

"Winter is such a cold, bleak, and gray time of year. The decorations give a splash of color," said Rod Peterson, a 59-year-old social worker who was painting the scene yesterday in Copley Square. Peterson said a wreath still hangs proudly from his Malden home, where it will stay until spring cleaning.

But others said Yuletide decorations have worn out their welcome. On Bunker Hill, seasonal greens wrapped around lampposts have turned brown, their bows frayed or fallen. Once green garlands have faded from Beacon Hill to Blue Hill Avenue, where time is catching up with a large wreath hung above a fire station door.

"I say get the snowmen out and get the tulips up," said Eva Cincotta, a Melrose resident who teaches art at North Shore Community College. Cincotta, who is also a painter, omitted all wreaths in her depictions of Copley Square. No one's going to buy a Christmas painting in February, she said.

On the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, tree lights stay up through March. People love their elegant sparkle, but eventually, some say, there's a point of diminishing returns.

"Half the people like them, half of them don't," said Jackie Yessian, chairwoman of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. "It's a very personal thing."

Margaret Pokorny, who chairs the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, said the lights allow residents to safely traverse the greenway after dark. Some of the other Christmas detritus, however, she could do without.

"When the snow is on the ground, it's nice," she said. "But today, at 45 degrees? It looks a little out of place."

In Mission Hill, Christmas has come and gone, neighbors said. Trees have long since been dragged to the curb and carted away, even the big one in Brigham Circle.

"Everyone's moved on," said Rich Johnson, president of the Community Alliance of Mission Hill.

Christmas trees put up by the city are typically taken down by mid-January, weather permitting, said Mary Hines, a spokeswoman for the city's Parks & Recreation Department. "If there's a lot of snow, they're busy moving that instead," she said.

All that's left of the city's holiday decorations are the lights in Commonwealth Avenue and North End parks, which are privately financed. They typically come down April 1, Hines said, which seems to suit people.

"People like the look of them," she said.

That was true of Renata Forcenette and Rafael Pires, 20-something tourists from Brazil. Snapping pictures of Copley Square, they said they liked the Christmas remnants. In Brazil, everything comes down on Jan. 6, the Epiphany. This was a nice change of pace, they said.

In Charlestown, many people found the decorations somewhat depressing, a grim reminder of winter's hold. But Anne Crilley didn't see the dying wreaths. She thought of her brother, a former Christmas tree salesman, and of many happy times spent with her family.

"It's really nice," she said. "It makes the [Bunker Hill] monument look beautiful, and it keeps you in the spirit. If you're from a big family, it brings back a lot of memories."

Globe correspondent Alex I. Oster contributed to this report.

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