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Holiday Wreaths Made Easy

This wreath features hydrangea, holly and Chinese pistache berries.

You can have chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at your nose but what would the holidays be without a beautiful wreath to decorate the door? Maybe you want to put together a swag for the mantle or candle holder for the table. All of these traditional holiday decorations are easy and fun to make. They cost virtually nothing and make wonderful gifts for family, friends and neighbors, too.

Look outside your door 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.

Take advantage of this opportunity to prune your evergreen shrubs and trees to use in wreaths and swags. Cuttings from fir, redwoods, pine, holly, mahonia, strawberry tree, toyon and cotoneaster parneyi make fine additions to your wreath. Just don’t whack off snippets indiscriminately. To reveal the plant’s naturally handsome form, prune from the bottom up and from the inside out. Avoid ugly stubs by cutting back to the next largest branch or to the trunk. If the plant has grown too dense, selectively remove whole branches to allow more air and sunlight to reach into the plant.

Dramatic leaves like Southern magnolia stay fresh for a long time in a holiday wreath.

Some of the plant material that hold up well in a wreath include conifers like cypress, deodar cedar, redwood, arborvitae and fir. Broadleaf evergreens such as camellia, bottlebrush, variegated pittosporum, variegated holly, green holly, silver dollar eucalyptus, boxwood, oleander, acacia. melaleuca and abelia are also good. For color, try snippets of leptospermum Ruby Glow, leucodendron ?Safari Sunset?, camellia, rose buds and dry hydrangea flowers. Favorite berries are myrtus communis, texas privet, pepper berries, holly berries, nandina and Chinese pistache.

If you?re thinking of getting together with others in your bubble or pod 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. 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.

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 I?ll be looking for this year.

Trust me, you can?t make a bad wreath. They all turn out beautiful.

Christmas tradtitions, Christmas wreaths, holiday lore, holiday wreaths

Holiday Wreaths, Traditions & Lore

It happened again last week– the annual gathering of wreath makers at Barb Kelley?s house in south Felton. The day was crisp and clear and with ginger bread and Prosecco in hand, a dozen or us shared techniques and ideas for this year?s wreaths. 14 wreaths were made on the day I was there but Barb told me the total last year was 44 for the week-long event. Creating a wreath or swag for the holidays from foliage cut from your own garden is a good way to make a little light pruning around the yard fun. Here are some tips.

Hydrangea-holly-juniper-pepper berry wreath

Every year the foliage and flowers provided by Barb and her husband, Reg varies. Some greenery like the Hollywood juniper comes from a neighbor who waits until December and then allows the Kelley?s to prune to their heart?s content. The gardener at the bank near Safeway allowed the magnolia tree to be pruned along with some of their impressive pink seed pods. The hot pink Chinese pistache berries come from a secret source in Scotts Valley. Variegated holly is harvested from another garden as are the Ruby Glow tea tree branches.

Huge piles of douglas fir boughs, cypress branches, oleander and eucalyptus flowers, purple Japanese privet berry clusters and feathery Japanese black pine boughs were also available for the making of our wreaths. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Barb decided to rejuvenate her hydrangea shrub collection and there were boxes of blue and rich pink flower clusters, too.

Take advantage of this opportunity to prune your evergreen shrubs and conifers but don?t whack off snippets indiscriminately. 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.

The author making first of three wreaths

Winter solstice is December 21st. Solstice literally mean ?Sun stands still? and for a few days around this time of year the sun does appear to stand still in the sky. Nearly all cultures and faiths have some sort of winter solstice celebration. These celebrations date back thousands of years starting at the beginning of agriculture among people who depended on return of the sun. We have incorporated many of the same plants into our holiday traditions like holly, ivy, evergreens, rosemary and mistletoe.

Holly remains green throughout the year. Decorating with it has long been believed to bring protection and good luck. Placing a ring of holly on doors originated in Ireland. Norseman and Celts use to plant a holly tree near their homes to ward off lightning strikes. The crooked lines of the holly leaf gave rise to its association with lighting and in fact holly does conduct lightning into the ground better than most trees.

Evergreen trees also play a role in solstice celebrations. Early Romans and Christians considered the evergreen a symbol of the continuity of life. Fir, cedar and pine bough wreaths were used to decorate homes. Small gifts were hung from evergreen tree branches which may have been where the Christian tradition of decorating an evergreen tree in December originated.

Take a few minutes to create your a wreath for your door or tabletop or to give away to friends and neighbors. It?s a fun way to celebrate the holidays and trust me, you can?t make a bad wreath. They all turn out beautiful.

Christmas wreaths, holiday wreaths, pruning for wreaths

Holiday Wreath Makers Invade Felton

Somewhere in Felton near the San Lorenzo river sits a home beneath the redwoods. Surrounded by a white picket fence it?s the site of the annual holiday wreath makers get together and this year we have gathered to kick off the season with pink champagne, cranberry-orange scones and the tools of our trade: gloves, clippers and paddle wire.

Wreath of mixed evergreens, roses and tulips

Our hostess Barb Kelley and her husband Reg ventured forth earlier in the week to collect evergreen boughs, holly, flowering branches and various berries for us all to use in our wreaths. Since this extravaganza of supplies and good cheer continues for a week many will return time and time again with grandchildren, friends, neighbors and relatives to make many a wreath. One year Barb counted 50 wreaths made in a single week. This year 44 were made by over 30 wreath makers. To say we have a great time would be a gross understatement.

It all started 13 years ago when Barb needed a quick Secret Santa gift for her bunco card group. She?s a talented lady with flower arranging expertise so a wreath was an easy item for her to put together.

A few of the 30+ wreath makers including Barb on the right.

I am always amazed at how many creative people come for this annual event that. One of the show stopping wreaths this year incorporated red and pink roses long with dark pink tulips. Dried hydrangea blooms are always a good accent and we all agreed that the blooming Ruby Glow tea tree branches and the Chinese pistache dark pink berry clusters added just the right amount of color to the other types of variegated foliage.

Long time attendee and material gatherer Martha was up in Tahoe skiing due to the early snow and was greatly missed. I think she holds the record for most wreaths made in a single season. Barb holds the record for the biggest which also weighed the most. Described as a ?Kardashian? it lacked nothing in glitz and glamour.

Variegated holly and conifer wreath

This year I had my eye out for good wreath making plants that also have low water requirements in the garden. Besides the leptospermum ?Ruby Glow? I also found that many of our drought resistant native plants have thicker leaves by design and are perfect additions to a holiday wreath. I haven?t found a manzanita or ceanothus variety that doesn?t last well in a wreath. Also madrone, bay laurel, mahonia, toyon with berries, Douglas fir and redwood boughs and cones look right at home in a wreath or swag.

A wreath in progress

Take advantage of this opportunity to prune your evergreen shrubs and trees to use in a holiday wreath. Besides the plants already mentioned cuttings from strawberry tree, pines, cedar, boxwood, camellia, privet, bottlebrush, pittosporum, leucadendron and nandina berries are long lasting in a wreath. At this time of year, prune your shrubs and trees from the bottom up and from the inside out. Avoid ugly stubs by cutting back to the next largest branch. If the plant has grown too dense, selectively remove whole branches to allow more air and sunlight into the plant.

I look forward to getting together with my fellow wreath makers each December. This is my fourth year and I wouldn?t miss it. You can?t make a bad wreath. They all turn out great plus your shrubs get a little early pruning too.