holiday greens on bloom day

i’ve missed the last few bloom days… but i’m not going to miss this one, even if most of what’s growing on in the garden is greenery right now. speaking of greenery, i haven’t updated you on the holiday greens lately. here’s how the harvest wreath has changed into a holiday wreath, minus the holly that is:

october's wreath - oh yea, this was the one i gave to the sorghum breeder, a bit different from the one shown at our front door, below

late november's wreath with grasses, vines and burrs

december's wreath with fir boughs added

and then pomegranates and ball moss were added

and then pine cones and a ribbon were added

see why i picked a blue-green ribbon? because the kitties like it!

and just today i added purple beauty berries

see what fun you can have with bits and pieces of garden gatherings? i’ll probably keep adding to the wreath, as i’ve seen a couple of birds and anoles taking bits and pieces of it away… and that must explain why the kitties are being so good, staying on the porch…

happy bloom day everyone.

holiday greens: harvest wreath

we currently have a bit of grain sorghum growing in our front yard and i was admiring its rustic orange hue earlier this evening.

sorghum sentinel

since i used quite a bit of it (from another local field) earlier in the fall for a harvest wreath, i thought it could count towards my holiday greens posts. here’s what it looked like before i hung it by the front door in october:

october's wreath

i’ve since added other field & woodland gatherings to the wreath (from other friendly sources) including grape vine, native grasses and cotton burrs (thankfully, not from a $10 imported stem from anthropologie). i have plans to add green tree trimmings to the wreath once i find a place who will give them away for free. it will then feel even more wintery and welcoming. in the meantime, here’s a close up evening view:

november's gatherings patiently awaiting december's additions

no use in starting over with holiday decorations. by simple addition you can transition your fall elements into winter, enjoying them that much longer.

holiday greens: sage, silver & lilac

today’s holiday greens post is an image of an arrangement i made the other day while my family was here for thanksgiving. as you can see, all items are from the garden and have held up pretty good considering it’s still 70 degrees outside.

pretty

i love the cool, soft color combo of sage green, silver and lilac. the trimmings include Rosa ‘Marie Pavie’ (rose), Salvia x fruiticosa ‘Newe Ya’ar’ (silver leaf sage), Vitex trifolia f. purpurea ‘Fascination’ (Arabian lilac – the pretty purple leaves) and Callicarpa mexicana (mexican beautyberry). here’s the full arrangement on the garden altar:

full view

also included in the jar are Dolichos lablab (purple hyacinth bean) and Eupatorium havanense (white mist flower or boneset). to make this even more in keeping with colors traditionally considered for the holidays, i’d add a branch or two of my red-fruiting possumhaw, Ilex decidua.

enjoy.