We Live in Broadleaf Evergreen Heaven....Christmas Cuttings From the Garden

I'm avoiding poinsettias and cyclamen this year, and sticking to cuttings from the garden. Which is no sacrifice, believe me, because broadleaf evergreens are at their best out there.  Christmas isn't just about pine and cedar (although it's good to stick in a bit of both for their bristly texture and fresh scent).

There's such a lovely, drenching feeling and scent of winter when you cut, gather, and arrange  a big vase of greens and boughs. They center a room in a way flowers never can.

While I might succumb to a few stems of wine red lilies for the Christmas Eve table...this amalgam from the garden is so much more satisfying. They llast for a couple of weeks, and bring the freshness and the deep beauty of winter indoors. The glossy leaves of camellias gleam in candelight, and best of all, they're free for the picking.

Everything in this arrangement was cut from my postage-stamp sized garden....hedges, specimen trees, espaliers...all are fare game this time of year. Think of it as cold-weather pruning...

This butter-yellow vase is my new favorite (from Room and Board, it also comes in a soft, ethereal shade of periwinkle blue).

Coral bark maple forms the framework of the finished (well, never quite finished, always room for tweaking) arrangement, along with sasanqua camellia branches sporting some buds and flowers. Autumn ferns, pods of ligularia, cedar, pine, hellebores, and Daphne odora fill out the arrangement that'll last into the New Year....

Comments

[Chris]

Beautiful and yes the best part about a winter arrangement is it's longevity! I always have to stick in some common huckleberry but I love it's shiny, little leaves and it's added texture to the mix! Love that your Buddha is even decked out with his red necklace! :)

[Chris]

PS. Merry Holidays!!