Archive for the ‘Christmas Plants’ Category

Harvesting Christmas Greenery

November 18th, 2009

Harevested greenery in waiting

Harevested greenery in waiting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to begin decorating. At our house the Christmas decorating begins outside around the middle of November. I like to use fresh evergreens and grapevines outdoors. Because I’m rather “thrifty” shall we say, I refuse to purchase evergreen boughs. Instead, I harvest my own.

I start by making note of which evergreens are looking well enough to harvest, and which can be pruned without affecting the appearance and future shape of the evergreen.
 
Using a variety of evergreens provides more depth, texture and interest to an arrangement than using one or two varieties.

Tools needed are: hand pruners, loppers and a pail of water.

Harvest with an eye to shaping the tree and/or shrub rather than cutting willy nilly.
 
A straight cut is made to remove the branch from the plant.

Next cut the stem you’ve just harvested at a sharp angle.

Place the stem of the harvested branch into the pail of water.

Continue harvesting until you have enough materials to make your wreath, swag or planters.

When you do have enough materials, change the water in the pail, and add Christmas tree preservative.

Re-cut each of the stems (angled cut) and put them in the fresh water.

Set the pail in a cool, shaded location (garage or unheated shed) until you are ready to begin creating your decorations.

Suggested evergreens:
 

Boxwood

Cedar

Euonymus (variegated for colour)

Juniper (be sure to get stems with berries on them!)

Spruce

Yew (berries don’t last long on cut stems)

 

Suggested deciduous:

 

Redtwig dogwood

Yellow dogwood

Curly willow

Grape vine

Tree branches with interesting shapes

NOTE: do not place these stems in water

 
Accents:
 

Evergreen cones

Rose hips

Teasel

*Hydrangea blooms

*Silver dollar seed casings

NOTE: do not place these in water

* Use only where arrangement will be protected from wind, rain and snow.

Posted in Christmas Plants, Container Gardens, Crafts, Garden Decorating | Comments (0)

Scented Pine Cones

December 18th, 2008

Looking for a crafty gift idea? Here an easy craft that you still have time to make.

 

SCENTED PINE CONES

 

How delicious and pretty is a basket  of cones, scented with cinnamon, and bedecked with a ribbon or a piece of holly?

 

If you’ve collected the pine cones yourself, you’ll want to make sure they fully opened and bug free.  Do this by spreading the cones out on a cookie sheet and placing in a 150F oven. When they have opened up, they’re done!

 

Shake out the seeds and discard.

 

Using a small brush, paint the pine cones with cinnamon essential oil. The more oil you use of course, the stronger the scent, but try not to go overboard.

 

Once the oil has dried, place the cones in a basket or mesh bag, add a ribbon or a sprig of fresh greenery and you have a great hostess gift!

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Christmas Plants – Holly

December 9th, 2008

European Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

 

 

 

As with many of our Christmas traditions, the use of holly as an important celebratory plant began long before the first Christmas, though Christians have adopted and adapted the tradition to make it their own.

 

The Romans are credited with originating the custom of gifting their friends with holly boughs during the festival of Saturnalia (which coincides with the Christmas season).Rather like us adding a sprig of holly to a prettily wrapped package or the Christmas pudding.

 

Druids bedecked their homes with holly during the winter to ward off evil spirits. Today, evil spirits are not such a concern but, we carry on the tradition by using holly as a dominant accent during the holiday season.

 

To incorporate holly into the new Christian religion, a new legend was born; Holly first appeared where Christ walked. The thorny leaves symbolize His suffering and the red berries, His blood.

 

There once was a time when holly was considered a herb and used medicinally. Because of holly’s dense wood, it was used to make printing blocks, weaving looms and walking sticks.

 

Those who are fortunate enough to have holly growing in their home landscapes can cut their own sprigs for Holiday decorating. The rest of us must rely on our friendly florists for fresh cut holly.

 

Caring For Fresh Cut Holly

 

-          Wear gardening gloves when working with holly. The leaves have very sharp spiney tips that can hurt

-          remove holly from packaging immediately

-          moisten if necessary

-          keep the cut holly in a cool dark place until ready to use (the refrigerator is great for storing holly)

-          holly sprigs may be put in water. Cutting or crushing the bottom of stems will help them absorb water.

-          Prevent holly from freezing

-          Misting the leaves daily will prolong their freshness

-          Treat holly as you would any fresh cut flower

-          Arrange holly in a shallow container filled with water and keep it watered!

-          Holly dries well and can be kept several years. When dry, the leaf colour become softer and the berries darken and shrivel

NOTE: Holly berries are not poisonous. However, ingestion can cause intestinal upset. Holly berries are a food source for many birds and animals.

 

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