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Noon Edition

Holiday Greens

holiday green

  • Choose a container with a wide mouth and fill it with water.
  • Then go into your winter garden and pick a variety of evergreen stems.
  • Wear gloves to protect your hands and cut from the back of a shrub or down low near the ground.
  • If the bush is unruly, it is a good chance to cut off any bits that stick out.
  • Avoid cutting any branches that will spoil the overall shape of a bush or tree, and don't cut spruce as they do not regenerate if the growing tips are cut off. (You may have nice blue/gray spruce, and that color will beckon to you, but resist the temptation!)
  • Yews, arborvitae, holly, privet, euonymus, sage, mahonia, pine, cypress, ivy and box are easy to cut and available in many home gardens.
  • Contrasting shades, texture and form create interest in winter arrangements, so get as many different species as you can find.
  • Hold the stems in your hand and arrange them so that they look attractive. (Maybe create an outside collar of similar bits.)
  • Then go inside the house and hold the arrangement in your hand next to the vase so that you can decide on a pleasing height.
  • Then cut across all of the stems to make them even and the best height for the vase. (For example: one third greenery and two thirds of vase height.)
  • If using a glass vase, add a few shiny balls to the water before adding the stems.
  • Once the natural greenery is arranged, add some stems of fake red berries before placing the vase on a red mat.


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