Why I Oughta...

This Summer, I started to experiment with making my first few arrangements.  They were full of Disneyland Roses, Zinnias and whatever I could snip out of the garden .  I had a lot of fun experimenting with those countertop arrangements the last month-or-so of the growing season and is something that I'm already thinking about for 2024.   With Winter here and everything dormant, I recently opted to try my hand at a winter greenery arrangement for the kitchen.  We had this Santa Claus Holt Howard planter on hand, so I grabbed it and started planning.  See below for the Santa planter: One of the things that I learned this Summer was to try to use a grid in wider-mouth vases and planters to create some structure that the stems can be supported by instead of just being jammed into the mouth together.  I grabbed some of this green hardware cloth and cut a small section.  Below you can see it inserted in the back of the planter: From there, I cut up some of the boughs from our Christmas t

I've cut and brought inside flowers from time-to-time.  Disneyland Roses.  Hydrangeas.  Even Zinnias and Peonies.  Last month, I cut three things:  Zinnias, Floribunda Roses and Anemones and combine.  them . That was my first real attempt at mixing things.  But, I've haven't - until now - tried to bring in a variety of flowers AND foliage (and even seed heads) while attempting to make an arrangement that would sit on our kitchen counter.  Here's my first attempt - featuring only things from our garden beds:  Everything from Euphorbia to Ferns to Hostas to Coleus to Dusty Miller to Disneyland Roses in one container.