Monthly Archives: December 2023

Design trends

Making a Holiday Wreath

The call came last week reminding me of a much awaited annual holiday event. The Kelly’s wreath making party in Felton is something I look forward to each year to kick off the season.

The holiday season just wouldn’t be complete without a day spent with the Felton Christmas Wreath Makers at their annual get together at Barb’s house. Many of us regulars were anxious to get started and arrived midmorning eager to dig into the various piles of wreath making greens graciously supplied by Barb and her husband, Reg. We all shared stories and some laughs over glasses of sparkling cider or rose and french pastries.

I was first invited to the Annual Wreath Makers get together over 10 years ago but Barb has been creating wreaths with friends since about 2003. Friends and relatives come from near and far to make wreaths and enjoy some bubbly and pastries. Some will come from as far away as Folsom and Turlock.

We wreath makers had a great time. Barb told me a couple years ago that 44 wreaths were created over a few days. I made 5 on the day I was there. Another regular, Nancy, made two gorgeous wreaths and Barb made a perfect wreath for her front door. Hers are always stunners. Barbara explained that she once took a floral making class at Cabrillo. “I got hooked”, she says,”now I’m obsessed”. Some “wreathers” as we’re called, work fast putting together bundles of mixed foliage with lightening speed and attaching them to the frame with wire on paddles. Others are more meticulous grouping each bundle of various foliage with exactly the same mix. That’s pretty much it for required tools- gloves, clippers, a frame and paddle wire. A hot glue gun is a nice too for attaching accents like cones, berry clusters, driftwood, lichen, feathers, shells or flowers. Floral picks work nicely for small fruits like Meyer lemons, clementines or small pomegranates.

This year Barb and Reg collected a slightly different mix of material. “It’s different every year”, she said. During the drought years, they had to get creative as some of the greens didn’t look very good. This year they collected over 2 days – mostly on public land. They do have a source of variegated holly from a private garden up on Alba Road. Barb says she starts with a list of places and greenery they are looking for and hopes for the best.

Everyone makes a slightly different style wreath choosing greens, berries, seeds pods and hydrangea blooms or flower clusters of eucalyptus, acacia, pittosporum and Ruby Glow tea tree. Hollywood juniper, deodar cedar, red cedar, black pine, boxwood, camellia, oleander with long, slender seed pods and red flower buds, California bay, privet with berries and bottlebrush are just some of the plant material that we used this year.

Take advantage of this opportunity to prune your evergreen shrubs and conifers but don’t whack off snippets indiscriminately. Cuttings from fir, redwoods, pine, holly, mahonia, strawberry tree, toyon and cotoneaster parneyi make fine additions to your wreath or swag. To reveal the plant’s natural form, prune from the bottom up and from the inside out. Avoid ugly stubs by cutting back to the next largest branch or back to the trunk. If the plant has grown too dense, selectively remove whole branches to allow more air and sunlight to reach inside the plant. Look outside for different shades of foliage and spent flower heads. You can make a stunning wreath yourself from most anything you find around your garden. You’ll be amazed at what you can find right outside your door.

If you’re thinking of getting together with your neighbors to make wreaths or swags, start by having each bring a couple grocery bags of greens to share with other wreath makers. It helps if you can borrow a couple tables and have a few extra clippers on hand in case someone forgets theirs like I did. Each person brings their own wreath frames of wire or grape vine and some thin gauge wire on a paddle to attach the bundles to the frame. Wire coat hangers work just fine, too.

Trust me, you can’t make can’t make a bad wreath. They all turn out beautiful.

Design trends

What to Know About Holiday Plants

To kick off this year’s holiday season I plan to add come color to cheer up my houseplant selection. Sometimes I give friends and neighbors a holiday plant but I need to keep in mind if they have small children or pets as some of our favorites are toxic. Here’s what to know about those colorful plants available for the holidays.

Some years I have paper white narcissus decorating my house during the holidays. At other times I’ve had a pink jasmine wreath or one with holly, ivy and evergreens inside. Lovely cyclamen plants are available everywhere as are poinsettia. Christmas cactus are blooming at this time of year also. Which of these plants do I need to watch out for?

The classic plant to decorate our homes at this time of year is the poinsettia. Are poinsettia poisonous? Ohio State University conducted extensive research and concluded that although poinsettia sap from leaves and flowers might give you a stomach ache if you ate them they won’t seriously hurt you. The sap may cause a rash if it comes in contact with the skin on some people. With this in mind, you should keep poinsettia plants out of the reach of curious pets and small children.

Poinsettia do hold up well either as a cut flower or a living plant. Mostly it’s too cold here in the mountains for poinsettia to survive outside at night being native to Mexico but they thrive in the warmth of the house. They need a bright spot and the soil should be allowed to dry slightly, but not completely, between waterings. Deprive them of either of these requirements and the lower leaves will yellow and drop. Also be sure they aren’t sitting in water at the bottom of the container. Poinsettia are brittle and if you break off a branch, sear the end of the stem with a flame and it will hold up quite well in a vase or arrangement.

According to the Pet Poison Helpline cyclamen are mild to moderately toxic to dogs and cats if ingested but it’s the root or corm that is especially toxic if ingested in large quantities. Pets and people react differently and it is unlikely that children) would eat the corm and be affected.

My beautiful amaryllis flower and leaves are safe but the bulb is toxic. Amaryllis bulbs contain the same alkaloid that is found in narcissus and daffodil and is the reason deer know to leave them alone. Ingesting a small amount will produce few or no symptoms, however.

Azalea leaves are toxic and should be kept away from pets and small children. Holly berries are toxic if eaten in large quantities. Same for mistletoe, ivy and pink jasmine. Christmas cactus are safe except the berries from a pollinated flower.

Mistletoe contains multiple substances that are toxic to both dogs and cats. It can cause severe intestinal upset as well as a sudden and sever drop in blood pressure, breathing problems and even sometimes hallucinations. If a large amount of mistletoe or ivy is ingested, seizures and death may follow. The leaves and berries of holly and mistletoe plants, even dried, should be kept well out of your pet’s reach.

You can spray a plant with cayenne pepper dissolved in water if your pet is especially persistent to discourage them. While serious complications aren’t likely with holiday plants it’s still best to keep them away from small children and out of your pet’s reach.