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| Photo Credit: Jennifer Bradley Lenet |
| Cotoneaster berries add a bright touch for a Christmas arrangement. |
One of the many joys of my garden is watching the seasons change. No matter the time of year, I love bringing my garden indoors with floral arrangements – it stimulates and satisfies my creative side. But as the leaves fall and winter moves in, my imagination really gets sparked!
As the colors in my garden ebb and flow, I find myself walking along the pathways and taking mental notes of which cuttings I’ll use to make up my holiday decorations. I’m always looking for a late harvest of fall roses and other flowers, fruits, berries, seeds and foliage to lengthen the life of any arrangement. I always turn my shrubs with thick, glossy, green foliage like Camellia and Ligustrum for the foundation of any good display. Then I let the fun and the creativity begin as I chose among variegated Hebe, Pittosporum, Nandina, Cotoneaster – or any shrub with good leaf structure and holding capacity. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Jennifer Bradley Lenet | | The variegated leaves of Hebe add grace and interest to holiday decorations. |
You should wait to prune your picks from the garden until the day you want to make an arrangement because the materials you use should be as fresh as possible. Morning harvest is best, allowing a minimum of one to two hours for the plant material to absorb water. And be sure to get your cuttings from the back of a shrub or tree or from an area that needs pruning so it doesn’t ruin the look of your landscape. (And absolutely avoid using poisonous ingredients if you have young children or hungry pets in your household.)
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